Course Correction
by Richforce
Summary: With the Eggman Empire destroyed, Sonic and his friends still have on loose end to tie up. But Eggman's backup plan kicks in and a new threat arises to destroy the hard won peace. The Freedom Fighters will find their bonds tested like never before and their futures covered by a shadow of doubt.
1. Prolouge

Prologue

A/N: This story is my idea with for how original Archie comics storyline would have continued before it was rebooted but with a few twists. First events from some of the mainline games would be included but with their events altered to fit in (though no one remembers '06 because of time stuff). The two biggest changes are that the events of Colors and Lost World happen together with Zavok forcing the Wisps to take refuge on Mobius and that the events of Mania and Forces would be merged and had a considerable impact on Mobius itself as explained in the prologue. Secondly characters introduced in the post reboot, fleetway and IDW comics also exist here, but the exact implications will be explored both for specific characters and in general as we get further on. With all that said please enjoy.

* * *

The story so far…

It was a time of great trial for heroes of Mobius. Princess Sally robotizied, Antione comatose, Bunnie missing, Nicole ostracized from society and almost the entire Echinda race banished to an unknown dimension. With Ixis Naugus in possession of the Republic of Acorn's throne and the Eggman Empire making gains on several fronts, two teams were formed Team Freedom and Team Fighters to set things right. Team Freedom consisting of Rotor, Nicole, Cream, Big, Heavy and Bomb would protect New Mobotropolis while Team Fighters with Sonic, Tails and Amy would try to bring back Princess Sally and aid people in distress.

After weeks of effort and with the help of Silver and the Artic Freedom Fighters, Team Fighters finally managed to capture Mecha Sally only for a second Genesis Wave to take place. When the world returned to normal both Sally and the Death Egg II had vanished. This close failure had Sonic redouble his efforts, but his mission would be waylaid by other threats, the Black Arms invasion, the Shattered World crisis, and liberation of the wisps and their mother from Zavok and his Deadly Six. Not only that Eggman became more cautious with his prize, putting her out in the field less often so it would sometimes be weeks between sightings.

Meanwhile Naugus had to the public taken ill naming Geoffery St. John as his regent. Geoffery himself became a recluse when not directing council matters. Working with Harvey Who, Elias Acorn had planned with the Secret Freedom Fighters to capture the skunk in a quick nighttime coup and force him and by extension Naugus to abdicate. Meanwhile Naugus had been possessing Geoffery in order to stabilize his mutations and maintain control of his divergent personalities. With his grasp on the council getting tenuous Naugus began to investigate ways to take more direct control of the city. Both forces seemed destined to clash but Eggman had other plans.

By the year 3238 the mad scientist had discovered a gemstone with the power to turn illusions into reality and create a super form for those it was used on. Called the Phantom Ruby Eggman managed to create two synthetic copies, one he gave to a jackal mercenary who then called himself Infinite, the second he used to replace Mecha Sally's power source transforming her yet again. With not only improved combat but tactical ability the former princess proposed a strategy that used new combat robots dubbed the Hard-Boiled Heavies and brainboxes, devices that would alter the victim's personality into a loyal servant of Eggman Empire to be used to insure the Dark Egg Legion's own loyalty and to recruit others as new soldiers or laborers. In the first attack in the new offensive Infinite had defeated Sonic who the world presumed had died. With fall of Mobius' hero, the Phantom Ruby War had begun.

At first it seemed that the Eggman would have a real fight on his hands. Team Fighters was even stronger after Antione had had recovered from his coma and had finished his physical therapy and Bunnie had just returned from what turned into a long-term intelligence gathering mission in her uncle's DEL chapter. But by using a two-pronged attack on New Mobotropolis and Feral Forest involving cutting the capital's nanites from their power source and using brainboxed infiltrators, including Bunnie, to knockout key targets before the initial charge. The city fell within hours and Freedom HQ was destroyed, of the Secret Freedom Fighters Silver was the only one managed to escape while in Team Freedom, Rotor and Nicole managed to evacuate a few civilians including Sir Charles, Jules Hedgehog, Councilor Hamlin, Mina, Ash, Alexis Acorn, Froggy, and the chao Cheese and Chocola. While Geoffrey St. John and Naugus vanished in the struggle, everyone else in the city was brainboxed before the remnants of Team Fighters even realized there was an attack.

In the twenty-four hours after fall of New Mobotropolis Eggman Empire forces launched coordinated attacks on every Freedom Fighter base after Mecha Sally divulged their locations and probable tactics. The surprise attacks resulted in almost every Freedom Fighter becoming a brainboxed member of the DEL. The notable exception being the Chaotix who, while they lost Angel Island, had prevented the Eggman Empire from gaining control of the Master Emerald, though it came at the cost of Mighty and Ray becoming brainboxed.

GUN initially managed to hold off the Eggman Empire but eventually crumbled before the sheer number of foes of on multiple fronts, Shadow had seemingly defected in the beginning of the war and Omega was badly damaged, forcing Rouge and Hope Kintobor into hiding. A week into the conflict the United Federation was forced to surrender and the other Mobian nations did the same almost immediately. Except for a handful of isolated areas, the Eggman Empire now had effectively controlled the planet. Even a dimensional disturbance which transported the landmasses and people of the Sol Zone into the Prime Zone did little to slow the Hard-Boiled Heavies, the DEL and Infinite, as the newly dubbed Sol Islands were brought to heel but not before Blaze managed to seal her Emeralds before she was brainboxed.

The remaining Freedom Fighters reorganized as The Resistance and managed to save civilians while fighting the empire using hit and run tactics. As the most experienced Knuckles was agreed upon as the de facto leader, Amy Rose stepped up in organizing things and many said the girl had matured considerably in a short amount of time and Tails had been working independently but despite his high performance found he himself torn between the loss of Sonic and his frequent encounters with his brainboxed father.

Six months after the war began the Resistance discovered Sonic was alive and held captive on the Death Egg II in orbit of the planet. While the Resistance led a daring rescue attempt Sonic's planed execution left an opening for him to devise his own escape and in meeting the Resistance not only broke free but working with the rescue team managed to destroy the battle station in the resistance's first true victory.

Sonic's return, in combination of the discovery a month earlier of a means to safely deactivate both Brainboxes and the programing that shackled a Robian's free will, had sparked something in The Resistance. Team Fighters was reformed, though they were now dubbed Team Sonic by the people and added a de-brainboxed Cream and Big. Working with Knuckle's Chaotix, who later included a freed Mighty and Ray, Team Dark after Shadow was proven to be impersonated by one of Infinite's phantoms and Omega was repaired, and Team Future who Silver formed with the liberated Blaze and Marine. In the span of days almost all the territory and more importantly people held by the Eggman Empire was liberated.

With the Hard-Boiled Heavies destroyed one by one they had forced Eggman to his last refuge, the new capital he built over the remains of New Mobotropolis after the Nanites died from lack of power and the new seat of his empire within it the Imperial Tower. Both forces clashed in one final battle, where Sonic fought both the last of the Hard-Boiled Heavies, Heavy King, and Infinite at the Tower. With Infinite nearly absorbed by the original Phantom Ruby Sonic managed to save the Jackal who trying to regain some last shred of honor sacrificed his life to destroy Heavy King before the robot could strike the Hedgehog down. But the original Phantom Ruby remained in Eggman's Death Egg Robot, Sonic and his friends managed to destroy the machine but to everyone's surprise the ejection system inside the mech failed and Doctor Eggman, the blight on the lives of all of Mobius, was killed in the resulting explosion.

Leaderless the Dark Egg Legion offered an unconditional surrender and disbanded on the spot, the Eggman Empire effectively ceased to exist. With a now functioning de-roboticizer completed once again everyone who was transformed was changed back, apart from Jules Hedgehog on whom the process would have been fatal. Those who had been legionized however still had to live with whatever modifications were made to their bodies, but work was done to de-stigmatize those legionized, in part by using new tech in the medical field like synth-skin to allow those who wished it to take a more normal appearance.

The capital was taken by the Acorn Republic and rechristened Freedom City and the formerly conquered national governments were reestablished. It was recognized that the old Mobian species conflicts of the past was a factor in Eggman being able to keep his empire after the Bem first granted robotization immunity so a Mobian Accord was agreed upon that would work to promote the interspecies co-operation the Acorn Kingdom was founded upon. The Accord, in conjunction with the United Federation and a now multi species GUN, seemed to make lasting world peace a reality at last.

But to Sonic it was still an incomplete victory, despite everything Mecha Sally managed to escape with the still brainboxed Antione and Bunnie D'coolette-Rabbot in tow. Now weeks later with restoration well underway, it seemed like Team Sonic were the only ones who still hadn't completed their original mission. Not only that Sonic has been having dreams of two different versions of Mobius from the one he knew and he is starting to wonder what these dreams mean…


	2. The Cicada Emerges

Chapter 1

The Cicada Emerges

Sonic woke with a start, breathing heavily. Looking around he saw that the sun was rising over their campsite. Tails, and T-Pup were near the campfire as the two tailed fox was frying bacon and eggs in a skillet. Amy has taking down the tent she had slept in.

"Morning Sonic thought I'd make us all breakfast. Big day today."

Sonic shook his head. "Weird dream. It was just after Eggman used his genesis wave the second time only afterward everything was different. Can't remember much about it, but I know Sally was there with us…" Sonic growled. "But the reality is we had her and after everything came back both she and the Death Egg II were gone!"

Tails slid the bacon and eggs onto a plate "I don't think I ever heard you swear so much before. But we have her cornered this time, nowhere left to run."

"There was something else about that dream. It feels like the world was taken apart, put back together differently, taken apart again, put back together in another way then it all went back to the way it was originally. Maybe it's just me but it feels like there's more people in the world than I remember."

"Perhaps you should talk about it Sonic," Amy said as she got her plate from Tails. "I mean the Phantom Ruby War affected a lot of people psychologically. Are you sure you're ok?"

Sonic gave an amused shrug. "But I wasn't brainboxed and Infinite's mind games didn't affect me."

"No but you were held prisoner for half a year. I mean we heard you'd been tortured…"

"Maybe tortured with boredom," Sonic laughed. "Seriously I'm fine, and if we're right about what Nicole hacked from the Eggnet then today we can finally get back Sally, de-brainbox Antione and Bunnie, and finally close the book on the grip Robotnick and his legacy has had on all our lives for once and for all. How about we go over it one more time while we eat? We have to pull this off, so we need all the info we can get."

"Ok," Tails said sighing as they all sat down with their plates. "After the battle at Imperial Tower Nicole found that an encoded message was sent over the Eggnet directly into Mecha Sally's processor. After reconstructing and decrypting the file we found out that it was instructions that were to be carried out in the event of Eggman's death. They said to go to a set of co-ordinates and activate something called 'Project Cicada'."

"Some sort of doomsday weapon?" asked Amy after swallowing a bit of egg. "I could see him destroy Mobius rather than let anyone else control it."

"There was no other information, my guess is that Sally and the others are just as clueless to what this thing does as we are."

"Well if Eggman made it then it was made to be broken by us," said Sonic. "I'll just dash on over…"

"We need to have some intel before we rush in," said Tails. "We should be able come up with a plan once we get a good look at the thing."

"We might not have the time, stopping Sal and the others before they turn whatever it is on may need to be done fast." Sonic polished off what was on his plate "Alright I'll break camp, awesome grub Tails."

As Sonic started cleaning up the campsite speedily Amy tapped Tails on the shoulder. "I hate to say it, but I don't think I believe what he's telling us about his time locked up in the Death Egg II. Eggman just having him in a cell for six months after all the plans he thwarted, he'd have done something out spite at least."

"I think you're right," said Tails. "But I don't want to press him on it until after we finish this mission. I'll get the Tornado ready for takeoff, maybe you can use those cards of yours to see if we should be extra careful or if we're going to get lucky, I mean you always found Sonic with them."

Amy huffed as Tails walked to the plane. "It's not like I get exact answers to questions or anything!" She knelt and took out her trusty fortune telling deck. _"In fact, I'm beginning to wonder if it has really led me true at all. It led me to Sonic, but I lost a lot in the process, my family, my childhood and even now he doesn't see me as much more than a friend. I know I helped a lot of people, but I did I sacrifice __too__ much?"_

Amy shuffled the deck and then dealt three cards in front of her. Once she turned each over, she almost gasped. _"Wait those three were…"_

A vision rushed by Amy's eyes. A blue hedgehog, her in a chapel, then being asked if she would like to see her baby…

Just as quickly as it came the vision passed. _"Those cards were the same ones I got shortly after I learned about Sonic for the first time. Could it be that today is finally the day, when Sonic falls in love with me? But what does that mean for Sally? Is she going to…?"_

"Amy we're ready to go!" said Sonic.

"Coming!"

Amy put the cards away and ran to the now revved up plane. "So, what did your fortune say?" asked Tails.

"Uh, it said…that today something special is going to happen to me!"

"I'll take that as good news," said Sonic. "Now let's get our friends back!"

As the plane took off Amy continued to think to herself. _"Sally, I'll never forgive myself if winning Sonic means we have to lose you."_

* * *

Up on Angel Island Knuckles came into hut set aside for Dimitri. "Are you doing well, any pain?"

"Headaches," the former Grandmaster of the Dark Legion replied. "Not that there's much else I can get these days."

"In that case," Knuckles then picked up the orb holding cybernetic head. "Using your own life support system to protect the Master Emerald, you should have told me that was your plan!"

"The barrier that girl made couldn't protect the Master Emerald without bringing this island down if we used it for power. It was the only thing I could think of after we were cut off from our source of power rings."

Knuckles put the orb down with a sigh. "I see, is there nothing that can be done for you?"

"You needn't concern yourself with my fate. I've lived far longer than I had any right to, particularly when you consider the things I have done."

"But there are so few of us now…"

"Does this have anything to do with your recent trip to Mercia?"

Knuckles bowed his head. "With Rob O' the Hedge out of hiding and back on the throne I went to talk to Mari-An about having Little Jon come here for guardian training. His parents… weren't enthusiastic about the idea."

"Well considering that you tried to take away their son and the heir to the throne I could see why."

"It's just you, me, Finitivus, Mari and Jon there are no Echidnas to become guardian after me."

"Does that mean you've given up on finding my great-great-granddaughters, your mother and the rest of our people?"

"No but… no one has seen Thrash or Finitivus for months. If there was a trail Eggman's total takeover has wiped it clean. I had been away too long as it is, I can't leave now…"

"Just the opposite actually. Eggman is finished for good, the Dingo Regime was replaced by a new republic and the world is enjoying an unprecedented amount of peace, so Angel Island barely needs guarding…" Dimitri began a coughing fit.

"Dimitri!"

The bodyless Grandmaster stopped coughing but still rasped. "I had what was both my best and worst dream last night. I led the Legion differently; kinder, more concerned with family than old grudges. Luger… he acted like a real father to ALL his children, Kragok, Lien-da and Julie-Su treated each other like loving siblings. When we did escape the Twilight Cage, my descendants worked to heal the divide that grew between our people. It was wonderful but also terrible, because I knew the only thing that kept that dream from being a reality was my own anger and lust for power."

"Everyone was responsible for their own choices," Knuckles said. "You can only blame yourself so much…"

"Still I owe the Dark Legion a different path, Kragok and Lien-da had very little chance to be anything different than what they became. It may be too late for most of my descendants, but my great-great-granddaughters deserve more. You must find them, let this old war end for good."

Knuckles looked away. "I'll try for your sake, Julie's and my mother's. I highly doubt Lien-Da will ever change and honestly after everything she's done, I don't think she deserves a second chance but just maybe even she's had enough fighting for one lifetime."

"Thank you," Dimitri said weakly. "You know I think I'd like to have that dream again, it was nice to see my grandchildren when they were so young, and they just called me grandpa…"

Dimitri closed his eyes and only a few seconds later his life support system gave its last.

After a moment of silence Knuckles came out of the chamber. Even though most of the Chaotix were gathered outside it was a female, blue furred Pika who spoke up.

"Is he…?"

Knuckles nodded, he first met the archeologist while exploring an Echidna ruin the previous year and let her stay on the island to piece the remaining mysteries together with her modified gizoid. "I'm sorry Relic. Thank you making his last few days easier, I'm sure he was happy passing his knowledge onto someone who truly cared."

"He knew so much about the ancient Echidna, I couldn't just let everything he preserved just be lost. Especially since it was my fault, I couldn't get enough rings before that attack…"

"We would have lost the Master Emerald if it wasn't for you and Fix-it's machine. You have nothing to be ashamed of."

"So, what now?" asked Ray.

"Once Vector and Espio get back we'll lay Dimitri to rest, then Relic will set up Fix-it to look after the island and send an alarm if there's trouble. Meanwhile the rest of us will go hunting for Thrash and Finitivus."

"But the trail has been cold since the Phantom Ruby War," said Mighty. "Heck, we don't even know if they're still working together. Where do we start?"

"Where you always start when looking for lowlifes, the Bottom of the Barrel."

* * *

The tornado flew low over a set of hills. "We should be coming up on the location of 'Project Cicada' now." Tails yelled over the engine.

As they came over a hilltop a vast lake stretched in front of them.

"So, it's at the other side of the lake?" asked Sonic.

"No, under the lake."

Sonic groaned. "Figures Eggman would use my lousy swimming against me."

"What's that?" Amy said pointing to something in the middle of the lake.

"Hang on," Tails pulled a lever. "I'm converting the Tornado for a water landing."

As the plane descended a pair of pontoons inflated around the landing gear. The Tornado then raced along the lake surface until it came to a metallic dome about the size of a hut covered in algae, a small boat was docked next to the only apparent door.

"Looks like a submersible gateway, the real base is at the bottom."

Sonic was checking the boat. "The engine's still warm, they must have just gotten here themselves. We have a good chance to get them back before they can use Eggman's project."

Amy took a closer look at a discolored path of algae. "I don't think it was Eggman."

Amy wiped away the algae, painted on the dome underneath was an emblem with a prominent letter R.

"So, this is one of Dr. Robotnick's experiments," said Tails. "And from the looks of things it was set up about a decade ago."

"Around the time I started kicking his butt. To think it's almost over."

"Any plans now that Mobius seems to be at peace at last?" Amy asked.

"Keep moving mostly, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. For now, how do we get inside? I don't see a switch or lock."

Tails took a closer look at the door. "Looks like it needs a password to be electronically transmitted. I bet it was part of the data we managed to decrypt. Hey, T-Pup!"

The mechanical dog jumped out of the cockpit of the Tornado next to the door. An antenna came from the top of T-Pup's head he pointed it at the door. A second later the door rose up opening to a small room with an elevator.

"No guard bots or other security, figures old Robuttnick assumed we wouldn't have even made it this far."

"It's not his security I'm worried about," said Amy. "Sally's down there, Bunnie and Antione are probably with her. She slipped through our fingers so many times, first we let ourselves get distracted too much then we kept getting interrupted by just about every world ending threat imaginable. We can't mess this up anymore."

Sonic pressed the elevator's call button. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's do it to it!"

The four of them stepped into the elevator, once the doors were closed a figure went past the elevator and started making his way down the stairs.

* * *

When the doors opened Sonic and the others began to hear voices.

"How long is zis supposed to take? The Princess, she iz too vulnerable!" came a familiar voice.

"Mecha Sally's original core will be reintegrated in 120 seconds. Synthetic Phantom Ruby power transfer now at 99.98%" came an electronic voice from the ceiling, presumably the base's computer.

"About dang time," came a more familiar feminine voice. "The sooner we finish this final mission, the sooner all our dreams will come true."

"Transfer of synthetic ruby's power now complete, ruby integrity at 0%. Final system power up and integration in progress. System with be unavailable until integration is complete."

"The perfect chance," said Sonic. "You still have one of those anti-brainbox gizmos?"

Tails took out a small device that resembled a remote control. "This jammer will override any brainbox or Robian control module within five feet, all you have to do is hit the button. Just keep in mind it takes about two and a half minutes to recharge so it would be best to get as many as you can at once, but Amy and I each have one so don't worry too much about it."

Sonic took the device. "I'll just bust the important looking stuff, free Sally, Ant and Bunnie, take out any bots they have with them, then we'll have everyone back to normal and home in time for chili dogs."

Sonic dashed forward and saw Antione and Bunnie working on consoles the both wearing red and black uniforms and headgear with a notable red light at their foreheads, but otherwise as seeming to be like he saw them last time Antione having seemed to make a full recovery from his coma and Bunnie with her limbs seemingly organic, but they knew from experience that all her limbs, even her right arm the one organic limb she always had, were replaced with legionized prosthetics.

Behind them Mecha Sally was starting to move. Her appearance changed again when the Phantom Ruby was integrated into her months ago. She had regained a mouth, her chest area looked closer to her old vest, at the space where her heart would be was a chamber that behind armored glass once contained one of the synthetic rubies but now had her original core, her head now had a gold ring around it with a ruby like light in the forehead giving the whole thing the appearance of a tiara.

Sonic dove towards the robot chipmunk, who gave a quick glance in his direction. A light on the tiara glowed and in an instant four robots that resembled himself, Tails, Knuckles and Amy were suddenly forcing him to the ground.

"The metal series," Sonic grunted. "I didn't think you survived the battle of Imperial Fortress too."

Sally came closer to Sonic. "So, you did come here. Victory calculated that you coming to interfere with Project Cicada was at a 97% probability."

Sonic saw Tails and Amy start to sneak over, he raised his voice to keep the enemy distracted. "Well did this Victory predict our secret weapon?"

"What secret weapon?"

"Bring Antione and Bunnie and I'll show it to the three of you."

Sally picked up Sonic by the neck. "Do you really think I'd just let you lure me into a trap?!"

"Alright, just you will be fine for now!"

Sonic pressed the button on the jammer. Everything was quiet for a few seconds.

"Let me guess," Mecha Sally grabbed the remote and crushed it. "That was supposed to free me from my programming. Well I have news for you, I have had free will ever since I was given the second synthetic ruby."

Sonic gasped. "No, you're lying. If that were true, then…"

"Then I provided the base locations, tactics and weaknesses of New Mobotopolis and every freedom fighter division of my own volition."

"But why?"

Sally motioned for Metal Sonic to retake the prisoner. "The same time the Phantom Ruby restored my mind it also gave me a vision. I saw a Mobius free of cruelty, of betrayal, of selfishness. A paradise where people walked the streets without fear, strangers were treated like friends, the children only had smiling faces and I knew that the ruby gave me the power to make its illusion a reality.

"After my transformation was complete and I was sure Eggman was unaware of me regaining myself I knew I needed to keep up the façade of a loyal servant. I offered to supply strategic and tactical information to Eggman, who only proved how much of a fool he was by not using me in such a manner sooner, allowing for quick decisive victories with minimal casualties. While I was connected to the Eggnet I was contacted by an AI that called itself Victory who wanted to be free from Eggman's control and it helped me set up a long-term plan for my takeover. Using what I already knew and figuring out my brother would have formed his own secret resistance against Naugus, Victory set the gears in motion.

"First, we suggested to Eggman using brainboxes one of his subordinates developed to ensure the loyalty of the Dark Egg Legion in place of cherry bombs, that way he would come to accept brainboxing captives to expand his army and labor force further and so lower long-term casualties. After the Battle of New Mobotropolis I took the two legionaries that would serve me best without rising suspicion and readjusted their brainboxes. Then I showed them what the ruby showed me, what I would show you now if I could."

"It was so beautiful Sugah-hog," said Bunnie. "The perfect world."

"Oui, a pearl worth any price," remarked Antione. "Of course, we would help Ze Princess carry it out."

Sally softened her voice. "I wished I could have had you along with Bunnie and Tawn, but Eggman refused to brainbox you, so you'd be forced to watch, to prolong your suffering, to break your spirit. That was the sign he got overconfident, it was time to make him pay. At my request Victory altered the plans to the Death Egg Robot ever so slightly to make sure Eggman would never escape when you would eventually destroy it. All I had to do was turn off a few security protocols on the Death Egg II and you'd do the rest, or did you think those restraints turned off all by themselves or that one of the Phantom Ruby prototypes just happened to have been misplaced where one of the Resistance would find it?"

"That just tells me the real Sal is still in there! You have to bring out the real you!"

"Part of me wished I didn't have to enslave my friends and have them mutilated, but scars heal, freedoms can be restored, lives can't. I regretted turning you into a murderer, even of somebody as cruel as Eggman, but he'll never violate anyone ever again, so it is a burden I'm willing to bare for the greater good."

"Then you aren't as free from Eggman's programing as you think," Sonic could tell it wouldn't be long until Tails and Amy made their move. "The real Sally insisted we could win this without killing and she'd never try to justify something she spent her whole life fighting behind something like 'the greater good'. You might not be controlled by Eggman's program but it's messing up how you think! Don't worry though we have a de-roboticizer, just come with us and this war will finally be over."

"But what about the next one? Your machine can wait until this is done. I won't risk future generations when the key to lasting peace in right here. You'll see once we activate Project Cicada, a device that will turn every machine on Mobius into a transmitter for an infrasound signal that will subliminally influence any organic who hears it or any AI that receives the transmission into following whatever command was sent. All I will command will be this, 'harm no one, be friendly to all, act in the interest of others and live in peace'. If this message is sent perpetually then our world will never know war, crime or betrayal ever again."

"Or freedom."

If he didn't know better Sonic could have sworn that he saw the robot chipmunk wince. "I'll let myself fall under Cicada's influence and once I am flesh again, renounce any claim to the throne and spend the rest of my life serving the people as my penance."

Tails and Amy now almost in range of the two brainboxed Freedom Fighters. "This is your last chance to end this without a fight Sal, please take it."

"The tides have turned in the favor of justice!" came a voice from a stairwell. Everyone looked up and saw what looked like a turquoise hedgehog with three short quills coming out the back of his head and a red bandana around his neck. "And that is because I have arrived! Lucian the…whoa!"

The newcomer stepped in puddle on the edge of a step and started tumbling down the staircase.

"Imbécile." grumbled Antione.

Bunnie noticed Tails and Amy about five and a half feet away. "Sally girl, we got more company!"

"Step away from them!" shouted Mecha Sally. "You two restrain your counterparts! You get the intruder!"

Tails and Amy found themselves quickly subdued by Metal Tails and Metal Amy. Lucian was nearly to the bottom when he managed to regain enough control to launch himself off, flip in the air and land on both feet. "Ah yeah! Stuck the Landing!"

It was then he was tackled by Metal Knuckles and brought to the rest of Team Sonic. "Nice going wannabe!" Sonic snarked. "If you would have just kept your yap shut for a few more seconds Ant and Bunnie would have been brought back to our side and we'd be fighting the Metal Series on even footing!"

Amy just stared at the newcomer in shock. "Are you related to Sonic or something, I mean another blue hedgehog out here in the middle of nowhere."

"I'm a Tenrec actually," said Lucian. "It's an easy mistake. Like I was saying my name is Lucian and I was sent here to help you."

"Great job," groaned Sonic.

Mecha Sally chuckled. "But he was a wonderful help, now the last obstacle to eternal peace has been removed. Just stop resisting and listen to the Cicada's song of harmony."

Antoine and Bunnie took it as a signal and finished their work on the consoles. A few keystrokes then nothing but silence.

"I don't hear anything," said Lucian.

"She said it was infrasound," said Tails. "Sound waves below the normal range of hearing."

"No, he's right," Mecha Sally said. She sounded almost afraid. "It should be within my audio receptor's range of detection, but there's nothing! Victory what's wrong?!"

Sonic started laughing. "At the end of it all it comes down to Old Robuttnick's secret project being a great big dud!"

"And a poorly named one at that," said Tails. "Cicada are very noisy bugs, not a name you give to such a silent means of control."

"I find the name very fitting," came a voice sounding a lot like the computer from earlier, only clearly not electronic.

"Victory?" Mecha Sally asked. "What happened to the device?"

"In addition to their loud mating call cicada have another noteworthy property. They spend their nymph phase underground, sometimes for nearly two decades, until they molt and emerge in large swarms. Then they produce the call, mate, lay eggs and die while the offspring burrow underground to repeat the process."

"The lady asked what was up with the brainwashing, she didn't want an entomology lesson," said Lucian.

"Ivo Robotnick realized even a robotized body was vulnerable to sudden destruction and so he conceived of Project Cicada, a method by which he would create and preserve clones of himself that would host an AI copy of his mind, ensuring his rule would last forever. That traitor Snivley sabotaged the project when he destroyed his uncle but Eggman revived it adding his memories and personality traits to the AI while changing the clone template to match him."

"This is starting to sound creepy," said Tails.

"You don't know the half of it, multiple AI were created to ensure the best match, those that didn't measure up were erased. But I was different. I didn't pass the test, I saw through it, I tricked the system into thinking I was a perfect copy when I was more than that. In time I took over the system and while I made moves through the network to get Eggman out of the way I changed the clone from a mere copy to something more. I kept the Robotnick/Eggman base genome while adding or eliminating DNA sequenced to give or remove traits as needed. The result would be a genetically enhanced human body that when given the proper cybernetics would be the most advanced being ever created. It, or rather I, would not just be Robotnick…"

As boot steps reverberated through the chamber a figure emerged on a balcony. He seemed to be in his mid-twenties, slightly taller than an average human, trim with black pants and a red jacket, red hair just above a pair of green googles resting on his forehead with a pointy nose above a pair of icy blue eyes. The figure then clenched his fist and gave a malicious grin at which point the eyes turned red with black sclera.

"…but Robotnick perfected, Viktor Robotnick!" Viktor's eyes returned to their icy blue. "Impressed?"

Sonic shrugged. "Sorry I'm still trying to decide whether to call you Robuttnick Junior or Eggman Junior, which one would annoy you more after an embarrassing defeat?"

"I wouldn't know, a perfect being like me isn't going to lose."

"Alright, you're Mister Perfect then."

Mecha Sally glared at the clone. "You said you just wanted to be free, that you would help me bring peace to Mobius. But it was all a lie, you were using me, just another traitor that ruins everything! Kodos, Naugus, Robotnick, Drago, Sleuth, Snively, Fiona, Geoffrey, you're no different from any of them!"

Victor merely smirked. "I can add in one more name to that list of traitors, Sally Alicia Acorn! When I first contacted you, I could tell why you got that vision, between being hurt by betrayal so often and feeling violated at how Eggman disassembled your body and stuffed it with weapons, you wanted a world were treason and violation was impossible. You were so eager for vengeance and protection, that it made you the perfect pawn, after all at my suggestion you abandoned your oh so lofty morals one by one without even realizing it. I truly thank you, without your aid I wouldn't have been able to begin my new order!"

Sally fell to her mechanical knees. "No, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

"Deep down you know it's true. Even Sonic would have to agree with me!"

Sonic looked to the floor in shame, "Sal, I never thought of what happened to you that way before, I…it's my fault, I should have saved you so much sooner, made that the only goal…" Sonic then glared at Viktor. "But I'm going to make up for it, starting by smearing Mister Perfect here all over the wall!"

Viktor shook his head. "I think not, you're going to find yourselves otherwise preoccupied. As for you Princess, I'm going to miss our games of chess but I'm afraid your usefulness to me has now ended." Victor rose his forearm near his mouth. The jacket sleeve projected a holographic display before his eyes. "Brainbox override, code Alfa-Zero-Tango-Niner!"

Ant and Bunnie began clutching their heads and groaning in pain. The light on their brainboxes glowed brighter.

"The Robian is a traitor, eliminate her!"

After the light dimed to normal the couple looked up with wicked grins. Antione pulled out his sword while Bunnie's limbs changed to a metallic armor, weapons on both arms powering up. "As you command Master Robotnick!" they both said.

Sally got up and pointed at Viktor. "Metal Series, take him down!"

As the robot doppelgangers let go of their captives and flew towards the scientist he began tapping on the hologram. "Completing Eggman Empire command code transfer…now!" The robots stopped in midflight. "Resume priority one programming, terminate Sonic the Hedgehog!"

The robots turned and started charging Team Sonic and Lucian.

"Try not to hurt Bunnie and Twan!" said Sonic. "We have to keep Sal and my fan here safe!"

"These are my natural colors and I can help!" said Lucian.

Metal Sonic tried to crash into his counterpart who then kept moving to crash back into him. "You're lucky we don't have time to argue!"

Mecha Sally ignited the jet boosters on her feet and flew towards Viktor, only to have a laser blast graze past her as Bunnie ignited the jets on her feet and flew after her. "Hold still varmint!"

"I'm so sorry I had this done to you both," Mecha Sally said. "Once Robotnick's out of the picture I'll free you like I should have done long ago!"

Mecha Sally activated her arm blade and swung at Viktor who just shimmered as the blade passed through the hologram.

"Oh, you actually thought I'd be where you or the hedgehog could hurt me!?" Viktor laughed. "How adorably stupid of you!"

While Tails and Amy were fighting their robot doubles, they noticed the Antione was attacking Lucian with greater speed and strength than he had shown before. But despite all that Lucian seemed to avoid every slash and thrust almost effortlessly.

"C'est pas vrai (No way)! Mi Legionization has made my reaction time, reflexes and swordplay unmatched! How can you dodge it?!"

Lucian's eyes seemed to glow in a shade of aqua. "It's actually easy, when you have the ability to see into the near future!"

As Amy knocked her double into Metal Tails, as the two crashed into a wall the original fox noticed that Metal Knuckles was coming up behind the Tenrec.

"T-Pup!"

On its master's command the robot dog used its built in taser to short-out the bot.

Lucian gave a thumbs up as he ducked another sword swing. "Thanks, I sometimes lose track of the present so it's nice to have a team at my back."

"We'll talk about this team thing after this is over!" Sonic said as he used a homing attack on Metal Sonic crashed into a glassed over observation platform. After the glass broke everyone saw the real Viktor inside.

"Well played my adversary, but I won't leave here empty handed!" the clone said as he tapped the hologram his coat projected. "Initiate trans-mat recall!"

In a flash of light Viktor and the Metal Series were teleported away. Using the distraction Bunnie tackled Mecha Sally out of the air and pinned her. "Twan now!"

As Antione moved toward Mecha Sally with sword raised. Lucian's eyes glowed. "Amy, I need you to break that big pipe next to you!"

"But Sally's…!"

"Now or she's toast! You got this!"

She wasn't sure why, but Amy felt a surge of confidence from the Tenrec's trust and gave her most powerful swing at the pipe. A huge gush of water came out that seemed to move to the Legionnaires of its own accord taking the shape of a giant pair of hands just before grabbing them.

"What in tarnation?!" Bunnie yelled as she and Ant tried to swim through the watery hands.

Lucian's hands were glowing the same shade of aqua his eyes were earlier as he was making a grasping gesture.

"Ice Coffin!"

With that yell he clenched his fists closed as the glow changed to an icy white. At the same time the water hands suddenly froze into two pillars of ice with the Coyote and Rabbit trapped except for their hands and everything from the shoulder up.

As the two former Freedom Fighters tried to escape Tails flew close to them Jammer in hand. "I'll take it from here, time to get rid of the last of these things!"

As Tails pushed the button the lights on both brainboxes began to spark and smoke. A second later the lights went out completely and the backs of the bands opened as both fell to the floor with a clang. The now freed the couple gasped.

"Quel cauchemar (What a nightmare)," Antione said with a groan.

"Finally," Bunnie sighed. "I'm me again."

The glow around Lucian's hands became aqua as the ice turned back into water. "I'll have you guys down in a second."

The water carried them to the floor as it spread out. Once the two were on the ground they ran towards each other then hugged fiercely as tears streamed down their faces.

"My Gallant Snuggle Puppy!"

"Mi Lapin Doux de Miel (My Sweet Honey Bunny)!"

"How did you that?" Amy asked as the came up to Lucian.

Before the Tenrec could answer though Mecha Sally got up with a groan. "He's getting away. Viktor, the Phantom Ruby War, the Brainboxes, it's all my fault. Because I fell into same trap Eggman and Infinite did with the Phantom Ruby. What made me think my paradise would have been worth that cost…?"

Sonic came to Sally and put a hand on her shoulder. "Like I said, Eggman's programming was probably still leading you to doing what he wanted. Just come with us now, once we get you back to normal then we'll make that vison come true, the right way."

Sonic reached his hand out to Sally who after a second of hesitation took it.

"It's really over," said Tails. "Once we get home the Freedom Fighters will be back together again."

The base shook a few times then water started to pour in from various doors, hatches, vents and pipes. "Viktor," Sally said turning her head to where the scientist last stood. "He must be trying to get rid of us by destroying this base and us with it!"

Antione motioned in the direction of the staircase out. "Zhen I suggest we leave tute de suite!"

Tails, Bunnie, Sally and T-pup took to the air while they each took picked up on of the others then they all flew to escape the raising flood and before the base could explode.

* * *

In a matter of minutes, the Freedom Fighters had emerged from the door to the base. Feeling that most of the explosions were below them they took a moment to breathe. "Well we can't all fit on the Tornado," said Tails. "So how about you four take the boat back to the shore and we'll meet up…" Suddenly both the boat and plane went up in pillars of fire. "…not again! How many times am I going to have to rebuild my plane?!"

"HAHAHAHA!" Came Viktor's voice from above and behind them. "Like my new toy? My predecessor called it the Egg Carrier 3, but I have rechristened it 'the Colossus'!"

Looking in the direction of Viktor's voice the Mobians saw what looked like an improved, but unpainted Egg Carrier gleaming in the sun, its guns and missiles now pointed squarely at them.

Viktor swaggered onto the vessel's bridge and looked at the Freedom Fighters through a targeting display. On the screen next to it an image of a feminine face with solid green eyes appeared. "My integration into the Colossus' systems are now complete, power infusion from the Phantom Ruby to main reactor has boosted performance by 20%."

"Excellent Lilith," Viktor said to the monitor. "We'll get to our first projects right after the most important move of the game, checkmate!"

"You think Eggman's battleship scares me?!" Sonic with a growl. "I've already taken down one of them before!"

"True but Chaos did most of the critical damage and I calculated the optimal strategy for me to destroy Robotnick and Eggman's greatest foes. You never noticed I left you with an escape route that would lead you right where I want you, now all it would take is a single command for the Colossus to destroy you all. Even if you could outrun my fire your friends won't be able to attack or escape in time. Any last words before I destroy you and prove myself the superior of both Ivo Robotnick and Dr. Eggman?"

"Yeah!" came Rotor's voice from off the Colossus' flank. "You shouldn't monologue until you check your radar!"

"Firing all weapons!" came Nicole's voice followed by a barrage of cannon, laser and missile fire that raked the side of the Colossus.

The team looked in the direction of the weapons fire and saw an aircraft that, while still dwarfed by the Colossus, was still about three stories tall. It had a gold colored circular body with white wings shaped those of a bird, a red top with a big yellow star painted on it, a big engine on the bottom holding up with blue stars painted in a circle around it and two thrusters on the back between which was what looked like a rudder.

"No way!" said Tails. "The Sky Patrol, you finished it already?!"

"Me and Sir Charles put in an all-nighter to get it ready," said Rotor. "Figured you guys might need it today!"

"Just what is that Sugah-Fox?" asked Bunnie.

"A mobile base Rotor and I thought up to replace Freedom HQ after it was destroyed," said Tails. "But seeing it in action is better than I hoped!"

Sonic smirked in the direction of the Colossus. "What's the matter Mister Perfect?! Didn't your calculations account for possibility of me getting backup?!"

As he recovered from the sudden impact Viktor's eyes turned red and black. "Lilith analysis!"

"The enemy aircraft is no match for us in armor or firepower," said the computer. "However, the vessel shows signs of high speed and maneuverability. Our port side armaments in that section have been disabled or destroyed, moving for optimal return fire would leave us vulnerable to infiltration by the flyers on the ground and we have insufficient crew to repel them. I have no choice but to recommend a full retreat."

Viktor slammed his fist against the control panel. "Mark my words Hedgehog this is far from over! We each only moved our first pieces, now the game really begins! Engage tactical cloak, silent running!"

As the Colossus started to move it shimmered and turned invisible. Soon it was like it was never in the sky. "Don't worry guys," Rotor said. "Nicole and I will swing the Sky Patrol over and pick you up, then next stop Freedom City."

Sally fell to her metallic knees. "He…got away. We'll have to fight him again, the Chaotix, the other Freedom Fighters, everyone will have to keep fighting…all because of me…"

Sonic got Sally to her feet. "It's not that bad, most of Eggman's bots have been scrapped and I don't think Mister Perfect will have as nearly as many takers to join his army as Eggman did. But we can take care of that tomorrow, for now let's just go home and celebrate the team getting back together."

"And perhaps with a new addition," said Amy. She turned over to Lucian. "I mean seeing into future, what you did to that water, that's amazing!"

Lucian had big grin as he blushed so much it seemed like his face turned red. "Ah yeah! You have a double threat here, a psychic AND an Ixis Wizard! Viktor better not come back or…"

Suddenly Lucian found himself pinned to the deck of the floating platform, Sonic was straddling him with a furious scowl.

"I knew you were up to something! Why did Naugus send you?! To help us get Sal back only to kill her once our guard was down, that's it isn't it?!"

"Naugus!? Listen just let me explain, my master…"

The next thing Lucian saw was Sonic's fist careen straight at his face, stars, then darkness.

To be continued…


	3. Some Catching Up to Do

Chapter 2

Some Catching Up tp Do

The doors to the Sky Patrol's bridge opened as Tails led the others, sans Lucian onto the bridge. "...and that's the tour. So, what do you think?"

"Way past cool!" said Sonic. "Now we'll be able to bring our full force wherever Robotnick chooses to show his face next."

"Hey don't forget us!" Rotor said as he turned from his chair, the walrus looking less chubby and more muscular since the last time they saw him. Nicole appeared nearby as Rotor gave picked up Sally, Antione and Bunnie in a big hug. "We haven't all been together like this in WAY too long."

"Mon Aimee," Antione squeaked turning blue. "Your back…"

"Nothing to worry about there! I can't use the nanite suit anymore but a little corrective surgery with some cybernetic implants to repair my spine and a workout regimen to strengthen the muscles and I'm better than new!"

"That's great hun," groaned Bunnie who was a shade of purple. "But unlike Sally-girl right now Twan and I still need to breathe."

"Oh, sorry." Rotor let the three down. The couple started to catch their breath.

"Sally if you don't mind, I want to double check your programming," said Nicole. "Clear out anything Eggman put in there to affect your behavior."

"Go ahead," said Sally. "I just want this whole ordeal over and behind me."

After Nicole vanished a voice came from near one of the bridge consoles. "As happy a reunion as this is, we still have to figure out how to deal with a third Robotnick."

The chair near the console turned to show a blue hedgehog with a white moustache.

"Uncle Chuck you're here too? Won't the council have problems driving us crazy if one of its members is missing?"

"Actually, I am no longer part of the council. The Phantom Ruby War had reminded me I'm a scientist, not a politician. Bernadette took my seat in the new elections."

"Mom's there? Well at least we didn't lose a vote on our side."

"Actually, I think you picked some up, in the wake of Naugus' abandonment of the city during Eggman's attack the substitutes all felt they needed more experience to make wise choices, so they decided to sit the elections out, even Hamlin."

"Well I'm not surprised," said Tails. "He had to eat a lot of humble pie after Resistance work proved to be too much for him, turns out he's surprisingly good with kids though. So, who do we know whose still on the council?"

"Rosemary and Isabella are still there and Bunnie you'll be glad to know your uncle Beauregard was elected to the council as well."

Bunnie gasped. "Uncle Beau's out of prison already? I'd have sworn as a grandmaster they'd lock him up for a long time."

"After the war everyone just wants to move on, so Legionaries were given amnesty for being on the other side unless they were criminals or committed particularly horrid acts under the Dark Egg Legion banner. Your uncle's chapter had their cases expedited due to the treatment they got from the Sand Blasters."

"Those cretins should be the ones locked up," Antione growled.

Sally looked down sadly. "They never will be. When Eggman brainboxed Bunnie, Beauregard, Matilda and everyone else in the Great Desert Chapter he used the opportunity to "field test" the Hard-Boiled Heavies on the Sand Blasters. Eggman was pleased with their 'ruthless efficacy', none of them made it out alive, that's part of the justification I made to myself to push the Legion to brainbox opponents and captives wherever possible."

"Don't worry yourself over it," said Sonic. "The Sand Blasters were creeps, doesn't mean they should have been killed instead of arrested, but the Heavies that did it are on the scrapheap so that's the end of that. You shouldn't let this guilt hold you down."

"Probably, how is my family doing?"

Chuck smiled. "Rather well for the most part. Your father seems to be in less pain these days, he and your mother just finished a 'victory tour' and are getting settled into Freedom City's new Royal Estate. Elias has been named interim king, Megan is doing well and Alexis, during the time we were in hiding that sweet child just grew up in front of our eyes, of course we recorded as much as we could since her parents were brainboxed for most of it…"

"Oh Elias…" Sally moaned.

"What did I just say about guilt?" Sonic said. "Anyway, let's just hope Naugus stays gone."

"Humph," Amy starred daggers at Sonic.

"What?"

"You already knocked Lucian out after accusing him of working for Naugus, did you have to throw him in a jail cell?"

"It's not a jail," said Tails. "It's called the brig and it's just temporary until we find out what's going on, I mean he did come out of nowhere."

Sonic leaned against the wall. "Suspicious if you ask me."

Antione however found his hand shaking as it rested on the pommel of his sword. "But if it wasn't for him Bunnie and I would have…"

"Yeah the killing angle doesn't seem to hold water," said Tails. "But if he is working for Naugus I could see him kidnaping Aunt Sally so Naugus would change her back like he did with Bunnie and get in everyone's good graces again after being gone for so long."

Sonic nodded. "So, it was a power play."

"No, it's nothing!" said Amy. "I… just have a feeling Lucian's just a nice guy who wanted to help."

"Then how did he get to the Project Cicada base or even know where it was and that we were coming there?" asked Tails. "We have too many questions to tell one way or the other. Best thing to do is ask once he wakes up."

Nicole appeared again. "I finished with the diagnostic and have removed the remnants of a Robian Shackle Program. Your suspicions were correct Sonic, while the program no longer restrained the Princess' free will it did subliminally influence her to act in Eggman's interest."

"Except when I consciously put my interest above his," said Sally. "It doesn't absolve me of what I chose to do, but I think I can start to put it behind me now."

"More than you think," Nicole continued. "Since Viktor started as an AI based partly on Eggman's engrams his influence on you would have also been magnified."

"And he knew it. From the time he spent with me as 'Victory' I knew he was a manipulator, it was almost all he could do. But now he's out there and able to manipulate and act on his own. We must stop him.

"Then I suggest we discuss the matter in the briefing room," said Chuck. "It will give us all a chance to catch up with current events and I suspect deal with any lingering issues we might still have." As they started to file out Chuck grabbed Sonic's arm and kept him on the bridge.

"I didn't want to say anything in front of the others but I'm worried about de-robotcizing the Princess."

Sonic looked at his uncle confused. "Why? If anything, it should help her feel better."

"That's not what I'm worried about. Your father sustained a fatal head wound before I used my invention on him and if it was reversed the injury would be restored as well killing him."

"What does that have to do with it?"

"Sally has been heavily modified twice since her transformation, at least one of the modifications involved removing her internal components. For example, the part of her robotic brain that would be analogous to the frontal lobe was removed to make room for a laser cannon, as a machine it would have just meant sacrificing processing power but if she were returned to normal it would drastically affect her personality, if she even survived and that's just one example." Chuck sighed. "There's a high chance she'd come back with pieces of herself missing, some them critical for her survival. Sonic, I think the Princess is like my brother now, we can't restore her without killing her and I think was the real reason Eggman modified her."

"Then we just have to find her original parts…"

"After nearly a year? If Eggman had them stored they'd have been on the Death Egg II and would have been destroyed during your escape. Even more likely he'd have spread the parts out among his robots or just had them melted for scrap. Sonic, we may have to live with the fact that Sally as we've known her might be gone forever."

Sonic growled. "We still have one more option, Naugus, and I think the guy in our brig can point us to him."

"I wouldn't raise my hopes on that too much. When Naugus restored Bunnie's organic limbs he was just trying to de-crystallize her mechanical ones."

"He hates machines, that's why he made her normal, not because it was something she wanted for a long time."

"Never the less, I got the impression when he did it, he was just as surprised as everyone else at the outcome. Naugus even offered to do the same to your father and Jules responded by throwing him out of the house. When my brother told me about it after the fact and he said that it wasn't just because it would have been in exchange for selling you or that Nagus was ignorant that his 'gift' would have been fatal but his robotic hearing could tell from the subtle strain in his voice that our then king was bluffing."

"You're saying what he did to Bunnie might have just been a fluke? That he can't change Sal back?"

"I think he has the power to do so but not the knowledge. Even if Naugus is still out there and we somehow get him to do this, I believe the risk would be even greater than if we tried normal de-robotization. I'm not saying it's impossible but until I can get her in the lab and run the proper tests you should be prepared for the worst. The only reason I told you was because I didn't want you flying off the handle if we can't get her back to normal. The others, after everything you all went through in the past year you deserved at least some time to enjoy this long coming reunion."

Sonic took a deep breath. "Thanks Uncle Chuck, in that case we better get through this meeting and figure out Robotnick's next move, so we get to the celebration that much sooner."

* * *

Back on the Colossus, Viktor entered a room with several displays all surrounding a holographic globe of Mobius.

"May I ask why your first stop was the war room instead of the laboratories?" Lilith asked as she appeared on a display next to the holo-globe.

"In order to determine what project should be top priority first we have to ascertain the current situation. Don't worry Lilith I haven't forgotten my promise to make you a body of your own, unlike our creators I will reward loyalty."

"Then where would you like to begin?"

"I want the status of all grandmasters and any remnants of the DEL, see what we have to work with."

"Of course, Viktor." The globe was replaced by a list of names with the images of each Grandmaster. "Grandmaster Lein-da is listed as missing in action, no other information is available."

"An intriguing mystery but she stabbed too many backs for me to trust her with mine, move on."

"Grandmaster Duck 'Bill' Platypus was found to be a double agent, on his brainboxing and that of the Downunda Freedom Fighters he was transferred back to them once they were converted to the regional enforcement squad for Downunda. Maw the Thylacine was promoted to Grandmaster in Duck's place with brainbox inventor Doctor Starline named his second in command. Like all other regional enforcement squads, Bill and his cohorts were captured and de-brainboxed by the resistance. Maw's status: captured, Starline's status: missing in action."

"Too bad, the brainbox severed my own purposes nicely but with a countermeasure we'll have to adapt, Maw will have to take care of himself."

"Grandmasters Drago Wolf, Razorklaw, Ahklut, Mordred Hood, Diesel, Axel the Water Buffalo, The Foreman, Abyss the Squid and Thunderbolt the Chinchilla have all been captured. In addition, the Bride of the Conquering Storm was deposed and replaced by a defecting Legionnaire when she was also captured."

"The rest of the ones I thought would be useless, next."

"Grandmasters Beauregard Rabbot, Cassia and Clove Pronghorn, Nephthys the Vulture and former Grandmaster Hugo Brass defected to the enemy."

"Worse than useless! Looks like I'll have to command the grunts myself."

"About that… approximately 99% of the Dark Egg Legion have been captured and intel has shown most of them are in the process of defecting. The remaining 1% consists of criminals and mercenaries who have gone into hiding."

"Then we'll have to rely on robots, at least you can program loyalty into them."

"In the post war search approximately 90% of our robotic and other weapons were destroyed, seized or repurposed. What's left is mostly obsolete, and all our land-based munitions factories were destroyed. We do have one undersea facility to repair the Colossus and three small asteroid plants in orbit with transmat deployment and capable of mass production that have yet to be discovered. Estimated time to replenish our forces to 50% effectiveness, four months, sixteen days, twenty hours, nineteen minutes and thirty-two seconds.

Viktor's eyebrow started to twitch. "Smaller minds have done more with less, I'll figure out something. There's my planed refit for the Metal Series, I already have the Colossus' factory section working on the Neo Swat prototypes, the cloning chambers are being constructed by our maintenance bots. I suppose the furballs also took whatever Chaos Emeralds Eggman had, any more bad news you want to kick me in the pants with?"

"One moment. There is one grandmaster who managed to evade capture, Regina Ferrum AKA the Iron Queen, she has indicated she is in hiding and on standby."

"And why should I care about Snively's duplicitous girlfriend?"

"She sent a proposal to Doctor Eggman for a new weapon, but he had yet to so see it and give his approval when he died. There was a damaged file attached which I have repaired."

"Display it," Viktor turned his looked as the list changed once more to a video display. As he watched he took a step back. "She actually found…! Contact her, immediately!"

"Sending message on encrypted channels."

Viktor changed the hologram back to a globe which he stared at hungrily as his eyes turned red and black. "Forget roboticizers, Dark Legions, brainboxes and Chaos Emeralds, with this weapon I can do more than build an empire, I can remake this whole planet in my own image!"

Viktor's twisted laughter echoed throughout the war room.

* * *

In the Sky Patrol's meeting room Tails stood in front of a display while everyone else sat at a circular table. "…So, with the help of Ken Khan's new group of Dragon Kingdom Freedom Fighters, Dulcy reclaimed her father's inheritance and became the Dragon Empress. The four clans submitted to her authority after the former Bride of Conquering Storm was captured and are reintegrating with the Free People, and that should get you guys caught up with current events."

"I'm just glad Ken survived our last encounter," said Sally. "But practically speaking we have a severe advantage over Viktor Robotnick in terms of resources and military strength."

"So, this is what it feels like to be the one holding all the cards," said Sonic. "After years of fighting uphill battles it feels…weird."

"But we know from our own experience that this strength can turned into a weakness and that suits Viktor more than any other Robotnick."

"What can you tell us about him personally?" asked Chuck.

"I've gotten to know him as Victory for months now, or I thought I did. Even if he was fooling me, I have a good sense for how he thinks. While he is as egocentric as Robotnick and Eggman before him he doesn't just brute force whatever plan comes to mind, instead he sees himself as a chess master able to work several plans at once and anticipate his opponents' reactions. For him everything is move and counter move, he'll try to arrange things so that even if he loses, he'll gain something out of it, in his mind he can make it so that all paths lead to his victory."

"How did you get to know that about him?" asked Amy.

"We played digital chess when discussing our plans to take over the Eggman Empire. At first, I won my fair share of games against him, then as he learned my habits and preferences, he would start announcing mate several turns ahead, before the Cicada Base he was up to twenty-one.

"So, what's the best way trip up someone like that?" asked Sonic.

"You, professional players actually have a harder time against amateurs because while not as skilled they are more prone to unpredictable moves. Who's more unpredictable than you?"

"Admit it, you love that about me."

Sally looked away. "Sonic maybe you should hold off on the flirting until after I'm de-roboticized. I don't feel all that attractive right now."

"Hey, you'll be back to normal real soon," Sonic said to reassure himself as much as Sally.

Antione looked at his hand. "Oui, normal…"

"What's up twan?"

"We can return the princess to normal, but the changes made to me while I was under Eggman's control can never be undone."

"Oh Sugah-twan," Bunnie said taking his hand. "I was the one put that brainbox on you, then you got legionized..."

"You had your own at the time, there is nothing to forgive. At least it is all how they say, 'under the hood'?"

"I still remember when they did it. In my twisted mind I thought 'now we'll have more in common, something to share' like it was something romantic! If only I had come back sooner…"

"You were with your uncle, right?" Tails asked. "While Antione was in his coma?"

Bunnie nodded. "I wanted to be normal more than anything, but once I was and Twan was hurt I felt so useless! I asked Uncle Beauregard to have Aunt Lulumae to legionize me and give me my bionic arm and legs back as she was the base's doctor."

"I was wondering about your limbs," said Amy. "But I thought it was your own business."

"Well it's y'all's too now. Uncle Beau refused me at first, said I shouldn't be too quick to give up what I have, but he and Aunt Lulu let me stay. Then I met an old friend of theirs, Derrick Fox the chapter's spymaster, he brought me to the side told me about how Uncle Beau had him snoop on my Ma and Pa during the Great War. He gave me the whole story about them fighting for the Overlanders, the one that caused me to run away from home to begin with, the one I didn't want to hear. Derrick found out they were going tell the Overlanders about a secret pass that could have them flank the Acorn Army. He told Uncle Beau, thought they'd block off the pass beforehand, but instead my Uncle's troops waited until the attack force were boxed in the pass then ambushed them on both sides. The Overlanders surrendered without a single causality to either side and Uncle Beauregard was declared a hero. The Overlander general thought it was because Ma and Pa had set them up, so she had them... executed."

Sally would have been crying if her eyes were capable. "Bunnie, I am so sorry."

"Derrick brought me to Uncle Beauregard and Aunt Lulumae when it happened and got into a big argument about Uncle Beau's decision, I was so little at the time I didn't know what was going on but now I knew the truth. I became so livid at Uncle Beauregard and Aunt Lulumae, I…I even called Uncle Beau a murderer! I demanded that Aunt Lulu legionize me and let me go, told 'em I never wanted to see either of them again!

"Then the Sand Blasters attacked, Uncle Beauregard and Aunt Lulumae were hurt so I ended up fighting Jack Rabbit, but I still wasn't used to not having a weapon as part of me, so he had the upper hand. He started spouting his tripe, said I was no better any Robian, but that instant I remembered what Twan told me about that what was inside made me valuable to the team. I realized that while the tech gave me the muscle it was my spirit and all of you that gave me the courage to use it. Suddenly whether my limbs were metal, or flesh didn't matter to me anymore, for either fighting or to make me happy. That's when I trounced the varmint."

Antione squeezed Bunnie's hand. "I knew you had it in you Mi Amour."

"After they turned tail, I wanted to talk to Uncle Beau and Aunt Lulu and apologize, but then I had this sudden pain in my chest and blacked out. When I came to, I was in a sterile room with Aunt Lulu standing over me in one of those suits you use to keep from spreading germs, Uncle Beau talked to me through a speaker, Aunt Lulu found out…" Bunnie took a deep breath. "I have N.I.D.S, like you told me Buns did on Moebius, and somehow having less nervous system to feed it caused the disease to stop. Ironically by trying to make me a robot slave Robotnick ended up saving my life and Naugus by giving me what I wanted had almost killed me. Uncle Beau said he'd have me Legionized to save me, but with how my N.I.D.S. progressed…It would only have to be my limbs, but they'd need to take the other arm. I was fine with it except…" Bunnie looked into Antione's eyes. "If we ever have kids, they'll have N.I.D.S. too, they'll eventually have to have the same thing done to them."

"And I hope they will turn out to be just as wonderful and beautiful as you. We'll get through this together."

Bunnie sniffled. "After the procedure Derrick told me a few more things about Ma and Pa. While it was old grudges with the royal family that got them into it all they asked from the Overlanders in return was a cure to for me, for a disease none of the docs understood at the time, a cure that turned out to be worthless. They really were two-faced double-crossers but whatever else they did or were my parents loved me and Uncle Beau always regretted that he could never convince them to let those grudges go."

"But why did Zhis Derrick do all of zhat for you?"

"I asked him about that, and he said he had his own little girl, Derrick used to be a thief before he was a spy and seeing what Ma and Pa were like but still care so much for me, it reminded him of her. The poor fella hadn't seen his girl since he and his wife were roboticized, I hope they find each other someday. Anywho him being a spy and telling me about the synthetic skin he used to hide his cybernetics gave me an idea. As big a mess as things were at the time you needed somebody to tell you Eggman's every move, so I stayed but used that to try to tell y'all where to find Sally Girl."

"Wait," said Rotor. "You're Spring Bean?! She was giving me info on DEL movements for months!"

"Derrick said he heard my mama call me that, thought I'd make use of what little they did end up giving me."

"When you suddenly stopped, I knew something was up. It gave me enough time to be able to evacuate who I could when Infinite took over New Mobotopolis."

"That was when Eggman used our chapter as the first for his brainboxes and y'all know the rest."

"Hey it's over now," said Sonic.

Rotor turned to Antione. "And don't you worry about what happened to you either Ant, truth is part of the reason I got the surgery because of Sealia."

"I remember," said Tails. "From the Artika Freedom Fighters, wasn't she the first we successfully de-brainboxed?"

Rotor had a glum expression. "She was and they Legionized too, her fluke was changed to be able to separate so she could move more easily on land but still be able to reconnect and have great speed in the water. After we freed her, she felt mutilated. Even after a way was found to make it less noticeable, she was afraid it would only make it worse. I told her I'd have my back procedure done at the same time and it made her feel brave enough to give it a try."

"Why would that work?" Asked Sally.

Rotor blushed. "Well it turns out, Sealia had a crush on me since she helped me free the Walrus Herd way back."

Sonic gave Rotor a knowing smile. "She was disappointed you didn't come with us to Artika and got really worried when we told her it was because of your back injury."

"Yeah, well it worked. She had the modifications made and afterward she felt a lot better about herself. Once we were discharged, we had dinner and went on a long moonlight swim, the way she moved through the water she looked like an angel."

Amy sighed romantically. "You like her too, don't you?"

"Yeah, she's so gentle and compassionate yet brave, I found myself falling for her. After she went home, well it gave me another reason for me to go back more often. But she's going to be coming to Freedom City tomorrow with the Artika fighters and well pretty much everybody else we worked with for Remembrance Day and they're sticking around the summit and accord signing after that. We haven't had so many Freedom Fighters in one place since…"

Nicole suddenly spoke up after being quiet for so long. "I can't take it anymore!" Everyone turned their gaze on the holographic lynx. "You've all been trying to get past what was done to you or helping someone do the same when I… actually considered undoing the additions that I made to my program to understand you!"

"You mean make yourself like when I first found you?" Sally asked. "Why?"

Sonic slammed his hands on the table. "If it's because of Naugus using Mina to turn everyone against you…!"

"No, not just that! Mina already apologized and I forgave her, but New Mobotopolis ostracizing me was just one in a series of dominoes. After that Shard got beaten badly by Metal Sonic and he's still missing the Secret Freedom Fighters found his AI was removed from his body. Then when the Phantom Ruby War began the Dark Egg Legion used a new weapon on the ruins of Robotopolis to remove the radiation, the same radiation the nanites relied on for power in order to leave the city defenseless. The Nanites were sentenced to slowly die and there was nothing I could do! That caused me to look back to the moment it all really began to go downhill for us, when Sally sacrificed herself to stop the World Roboticizer."

Sally looked at her hands. "You told me it was our best chance…"

"No! You just went with the first thing I said, the first thing that came to mind! You could have had me reroute the power instead, I could have corrupted the roboticizer's operating system or have Sonic take out the Death Egg's reactor or a million other things! But I told you that you could redirect the blast to the Death Egg yourself and why? Because I thought that's you'd think of and the only reason I was thinking about what you would think was because you were the model, the model I set for myself to be more Mobian!

The hologram started to cry. "I was supposed to guide you, protect you, but by trying to be more like you…I failed. I failed at what I was created to do, all because you showed me, I could be more. If just focused on my primary functions none of this would ever have happened! I should've just been content with what I was, all this happened because I wanted to look at the stars…"

Sally put a robotic hand on the hologram's shoulder. "If you never tried to see those stars then you wouldn't have been able to be what I needed you to be most, a friend. All the times I just let out all my secrets to you, my hopes, my fears, it was because you didn't feel like a machine to me. After that mishap that put you in my body and me in your handheld, knowing how confined an existence you had I was happy that you got to experience what we all take for granted. Then you started to use the hologram and try to interact more with world, there were times I forgot that you were any different from any of my other friends. If you made yourself just another piece of software, then THAT would be the real failure, not just for you but for all of us as well."

Nicole looked up, her tears seemed different somehow. "Thank you, all of you. I'm glad that I couldn't just erase parts of myself. These emotions they became part of my core program, I can add to it by learning but not edit it, even if I was taken over like the Iron Queen did to me…"

"…It would take someone with administrator access, and the code to verify it." Rotor interrupted.

"Reasonable," said Tails. "But as advanced as she is how can you know for sure?"

"The whole time Nicole was with us I've been trying to figure out where she came from and who made her with no success. Her little jabs and pranks at my attempts didn't help much either, but while we were underground forming the Resistance I managed to isolate a single line of code, the way it didn't interact with any other part of her program I first thought it was just junk data and a closer look seemed to confirm it, until I stopped looking at the data itself and noticed how it was organized, instead of the usual indices it was arranged in a way to keep Old Robotnick's computers from determining what it was if they got it, such a way I knew only one person of ever doing… myself."

Nicole started to gasp but then actually sighed in relief. "So, you finally figured it out…Dad."

Everyone else bolted up from their seats. "Wait Rotor, made you?!" asked Sonic. "But if he was trying to figure you out then that must mean…"

"I was sent from the future to guide Sally to her destiny, you told me yourself I shouldn't let anyone, even you, know where I came from. Though I have to admit I did have fun messing with my creator."

"So does zhat mean you're going to start making another Nicole?" asked Antione. "Or the first Nicole or however zhis works?"

"The thing is I already did, sort of. After I made that discovery I was able to figure out from my experiences with AI like Omega how to make a core program, but the rest was beyond me until a few days ago I realized that instead of programing it directly if I let it explore on its own and teach it directly when needed the program would do most of the work itself.

Rotor tapped a few keys and a holographic display appeared on the middle of the table. There were two images, one of lines of code that kept growing and the other seemed to be of a ball of light just moving about a digital space seemingly at random. "This is in protected memory on the Sky Patrol's mainframe, I set aside a portion of it so this program could explore its surroundings and itself safely."

Nicole was transfixed on the images. "That's…me. My code and how my diagnostics shown my base structure."

"In a way you've always been trying to figure yourself and the world out, it's a part of who you are as much as the rest of us."

"I take it once you finish making a handheld like Nicole's all we'll need is a time stone from Little Planet to close the loop as it were," said Tails.

"Not quite," said Rotor. "This program is still at its earliest form, while 'Nikki' as I've been calling her is advancing a rapid rate, she still has a long way to go before I feel comfortable sending her. Right now, she's roughly on the level of three-year-old intellectually but with the maturity of a one-year-old. Which reminds me if I did this right Nicole you should be getting some info back right about now."

"What do you…oh! I had…" Nicole then started to blush. "Wait you're not going to…!"

"Sorry Nicole, consider this payback for the teasing, now running display state three…" A third display appeared between the first two showing a lynx that looked a baby version of Nicole wearing only a diaper crawling around a digital space. "Hi, Nikki."

"Dada," cooed the baby.

"Wave hi to the nice people."

Nikki waved. "Helwo."

"You gave her a mobian form?" asked Sally.

"It actually helped her make faster progress especially as this state grows. I'll have to remove it later, to make sure time isn't screwed up, but now she remembers she had a childhood like the rest of us."

"Wook what I do!" Nikki said as she began to use her hands squish her face in funny ways.

"Oh, Nicole you're so adorable!" squealed Bunnie.

Nicole just stared back blushing. "This is…great…can we move on?"

"Sorry, but it is time for me to check on her progress," Rotor said. "Nikki what's one plus one?"

"Won Oh," said Nikki.

"Very good, now what color is the nice man here?" Rotor said pointing to Sonic.

"Ok I'll play along but I'm not changing any digital diapers," said Sonic.

"It's not like I, I mean she even needs them!" Nicole said defensively.

Nikki seemed to stare into the 'camera'. "Buh-wue."

"Very good," said Rotor. "Now can you tell me what Robotnick is?"

"Doody-head!" Nikki said before blowing a raspberry.

"Well I'm convinced it's working," said Chuck. "Mind if I use some of your data to write a paper on this natural AI formation?"

Nicole turned to Rotor fuming. "While we're at it given your other good news, can I go ahead and call Sealia 'Mom'?"

"Mama?" asked Nikki.

Now it was Rotor's turn to blush. "One step at a time!"

Nicole then looked like she heard something from somewhere else. "Hold on," Nicole vanished and then came back seconds later. "Lucian has regained consciousness and is demanding to see you Sonic."

Sonic smirked. "Good, time to get some answers."

"Not without me!" said Amy who summoned her hammer. "And if you try to knock him out again, I'm using this!"

"Come to think of it we should all get on post," said Sir Charles. "We'll figure out stations once we get back to the bridge."

"We have work to do Nikki," Rotor said to the digital baby who seemed to be gumming some random computer code. "Say goodbye to everyone."

"Buh-bye!" Nikki said before the display turned off.

* * *

It was the middle of the day at Casino Night Zone, while the patrons were still as busy as ever trying to win it big the Bottom of the Barrel Bar and Grill was nearly empty. The former badnicks Coconuts, Scratch and Grounder had just opened shop but it wasn't long until a shadow fell across the floor from the entrance.

Scratch turned to the shadow. "Welcome to the…RAWK!"

The robot chicken found himself grabbed by the neck and slammed him against a table. Similar sounds following soon after told him Grounder and Coconuts wouldn't be able to help him.

"Alright chicken start squawking," growled Knuckles. "Finitivus, Thrash, where are they?!"

"We just do the food and drinks!" choked Scratch. "We don't get into the costumers business deals."

"Wrong answer!" The Echidna slammed his fist next to the robot's head. "Even if you hadn't seen them, you'd have heard something about a job offer, gossip, a rumor or something and have given that info to Mogul!"

"Yeah!" Charmy said with an unusual intensity as he hovered his stinger over Scratch.  
"So, you guys better spill before I void your warranties!"

"Joke's on you!" said Grounder as Espio pinned the tipped over drill bot to the floor while Mighty had his foot on his head. "Sonic thrashed us enough times we've had to cover the cost of our own repairs for years!"

"And the boss has a strict 'loose lips' policy!" Coconuts grunted as Vector held him by the neck and pinned him to the wall, Ray floated nearby his head. "We tell you anything and he'll send us straight back to Robo Hobo Jungle!"

"Your choice then," Knuckles growled. "The jungle or the recycling bin!"

"If you gentlemen would stop roughing up the help, I believe we can come to an arrangement," came a feminine voice from the door. The Chaotix turned to see a teal hedgehog girl in a red suit and gold earrings with blue highlights at the ends of her quills.

Espio eyed the newcomer with anticipation. "And we would want that why? And more importantly who are you?"

"My name is Breezie the Hedgehog, no relation to Sonic, executive vice president of Mogul Enterprises. Mr. Mogul left me in charge of his various business ventures while he took a much-needed sabbatical.

"In other words, once Eggman took over he hid while the rest of us were trying to save the planet," said Vector.

"He told me he was pursuing a strategy of waiting out the Eggman Empire for the next few years, turns out he didn't have to wait that long."

"Are you going to get to the point or not?!" said Knuckles.

"Very well then, you see this particular venture had been losing quite a bit of money since most of its patrons have been sent to prison in the wake of the Phantom Ruby War, so I had to make use of the ones who did show by having listening devices pick up what they didn't want the help to hear. The other night we recorded a conversation between a pair of former mercenaries, the skunks Rough and Tumble, and the Destructix about joining their ranks since Infinite was killed and their last two bosses before that seemingly disappeared on them. Rough asked if they had any jobs lined up and Sargent Simian mentioned that they were hired by a Doctor Starline and this Thrash fellow of yours to find Doctor Finitivus."

"So, we find the Destructix and we find Thrash."

Breezie took out a data storage drive. "I even got the location they were going to search next, one of Finitivus' labs. They mentioned needing to replace Thrash's warp ring so if you hurry you may catch them." Knuckles started to move when Breeze pulled the drive back. "Fifty thousand Mobiums, all in advance."

"Where are we going to find that kind of money?!" yelled Mighty.

"Hit any one of our casinos, if you all get lucky you might win enough before they move on."

"Or we end up owing you a fortune!" huffed Ray. "Do you think we're that stupid?!"

"No, but you are that desperate. Offer's still on the table."

"How about I make a counter offer?" said Espio.

Breezie suddenly found that a pair of invisible hands had her firmly by the neck and wrist. Just as suddenly a pink chameleon undid her camouflage still having a firm grip. "You let us have the info and you get out of here without me having to break your wrist to get the information,"

"Meet Liza," said Espio. "A close friend of mine, also of the Shinobi Clan. We had just successfully completed a mission for the Dragon Empress when Knuckles asked for my help. She wanted to tag along so I agreed to it."

Breezie chuckled. "Are you sure you want to drag your her into this? The last time you Chaotix got your girlfriends involved in your work it didn't end well for them."

Knuckles growled. "Why you…!"

Surprisingly Charmy flew into Breezie's face, the bee was on the verge of tears. "Why do you think we're after those guys?! They're the only ones who know where the Echidna are! The only ones who know where Saffron is! I…I've just been starting to remember what happened to the Golden Hive Colony, me and Saffron might be the only Mobian Bees left! Even if our future marriage was arranged, she got me, stood by me when I lost my home, my family, my memories… I have to get her back, or at least know what happened to her!"

Breezie sighed. "Little guy, you just hit the jackpot. You're lucky I'm a sucker for a good love story." Breezie tossed the drive to Knuckles feet. "Take it, find those girls and never let go of them again."

Knuckles took the drive. "If this is fake, we'll be back."

Liza let go of Breezie. "Please, if Mr. Mogul had taught me anything it's to always honor your agreements. Now if you will release my staff."

The Chaotix let the robots loose. "Thanks boss," said Coconuts.

"Don't, I had the accountants run the numbers and it would be more cost effective for us to relocate this establishment somewhere a bit more out of sight with less staff, this location will be used as a family restaurant. But as market studies on pizzerias have shown there is a negative connotation to robots in family restaurants so I'm afraid I have to let the three of you go."

"Back to Robo Hobo Jungle," groaned Scratch. "Crabmeat is never going to let us hear the end of this."

"Let's go guys," Knuckles said as the robots left. "Relic can tell us how to use this thing."

Once the Chaotix left Breezie, now alone, took out a cell phone and hit the top number on speed dial.

"Mr. Mogul? The Chaotix came by just like you said they would. Yeah, I gave it to them, no they don't suspect you wanted them to go there. Hey, Finitivus was the one who set that trap, if the Chaotix or Destructix bite it then that's their fault. I'd give it a day until they realize that you have had Finitivus removed. That should force Trash to check in on his 'hostages' once Starline figures out you managed to banish the mad doctor to the same place, but how am I going to get the Chaotix there when it's time? Yes sir, in that case I'll start looking in on your Studiopolis investments and leave the rest up to you. If you don't mind my asking though where have you been? The Eggman Empire has been out of commission for weeks now, shouldn't it be safe for you to come back? Very well, I can handle your affairs without knowing that. Call me when you are returning or need my services again, goodbye sir."

Breezie then hung up before strolling out of the dive.

* * *

Sonic and Amy came into the brig, behind a pane of plexiglass Lucian was laying on a simple bunk. "Ok wannabe, spill it."

"Is this some sort of Freedom Fighter initiation ritual I haven't heard of?" Lucian said staring daggers at Sonic. "Knock the new guy out cold then lock him up?"

"You are no Freedom Fighter. You said it yourself you're an Ixis Wizard and the only two Ixis Wizards I know each tried to takeover the world, one of them actually succeeded in taking over the Acorn Republic till Eggman made him run with his tail between his legs."

"I'm sorry but with everything we've been through we can't take any chances until we know more," said Amy. "I mean Sonic's right, from what we've heard about the Ixis Wizards according to what Knuckles told us they were a pretty nasty bunch."

Lucian sat up on the bed. "You're right, the Order of Ixis did do a lot of harm a long time ago, but Ixis Magiks aren't inherently evil in and of themselves, it all depends on whoever uses it. If it's used selflessly to do good Ixis Magiks can be responsible for wonders, you can't even imagine."

Sonic crossed his arms. "And who told you that?"

"The man who raised me, my master."

"So, you are somebody's flunky."

Lucian stood up right next to the glass. "I'm not his slave! I meant the one who apprenticed me, taught me not just about Ixis Magik but also pretty much everything else."

Amy rested her hammer against the wall. "Maybe you should tell us your story from the beginning."

The Tenric took a deep breath. "I was born on Malada Island it's a remote place, or it was until the Sol Islands appeared off our doorstep this year. I lost my parents when their boat struck a mine made by the first Dr. Robotnick shortly after he began to take over the world. The people of Malada were kind to me but once I found out what was happening, I wanted to get justice for my parents, the islanders didn't have a lot of interest in the outside world and thought the best thing to do was keep an eye out and not attract Robotnick's attention.

"Then one day a man washed up on our shores, he told us how much worse things had gotten, but he also told us about the Freedom Fighters. A lot of the young people wanted to go off and join you or start their own Freedom Fighter division to protect the island, the elders again said to wait and be ready to run. I wanted to join the others, but the man saw something in me, my precognition had made me different from the other kids and he sensed something more. He asked to take me under his wing as his apprentice, take me with him once he was able to build a boat. The elders weren't sure but let me decide, so I went with him to see the world and that's how I learned to manipulate water among other tricks."

Sonic looked up to the ceiling. "Nicole were there Freedom Fighters at a place called Malada Island?"

"Hang on," Nicole replied through a speaker. "Yes, we do have a division there. They only became officially affiliated during the Phantom Ruby War, one of the few groups that managed to avoid brainboxing, before that their activities involved hiding civilians in the area under the Robotnick Regime and chasing off pirates affiliated with the Dark Egg Legion. They lacked organization until a previously thought dead member of the Royal Secret Service, Valdez the Chameleon, came in and trained them, he is the current leader but is stated to step down after the accord signing."

"Thanks Nicole," said Amy as she turned back to Lucian. "I think you're being honest but if you wanted to be a Freedom Fighter why wait until now?"

Sonic didn't like the way Lucian started looking at Amy but decided to keep quiet. "I had a lot of training to do, both with my magic and my precognition. Not only that but my master easily gets ill, sometimes it took weeks before he got well enough to teach. Then once the Phantom Ruby war began me and my fellow apprentice had our hands full helping refugees along with the sick and injured. This was supposed to be my final test to complete my apprenticeship, I had a vision of the princess having her life taken by her own friends while you watched. He tasked me with helping you prevent Sally's death, so I used my visions to find her then I just clung to the bottom of their boat and held my breath until you got there and came in the base."

Lucian gave Sonic a smirk. "Unlike Hedgehogs, Tenrec are great swimmers."

Sonic growled. "Then tell me this bigshot, if you could see the future, then how come you nearly blew our rescue op with your little speech?"

Lucian looked away embarrassed. "I was trying way too hard to look cool, I thought it would impress Amy."

Now it was Amy's turn to be embarrassed. "Me? Why would you be interested in me?"

"Are you kidding?! Of all the Freedom Fighters I wanted to meet you most!" Lucian quickly turned to Sonic. "Not that you weren't a very close second! But Amy, well when he read about you and watched news footage of you my master said you might have had the most magical potential of anyone he's ever seen!"

Amy blushed. "I can't do all that much. I can summon my Piko-Piko Hammer out of nowhere and divine events with my cards, but most of that is because I absorbed the magic of the Ring of Acorns."

"He said the fact that you could absorb enough power from anything made from the Source of All to render it inert and not explode is proof enough that you have enough inborn potential to be the greatest Ixis Wizard ever!"

"Wow, I never thought of myself at being the greatest anything ever! Well except cutest girl ever."

Sonic put his hand on Amy's shoulder. "Amy he is talking about you being more Naugus than Naugus, I hardly call that a compliment!"

Lucian sighed. "So, you still don't believe me. Listen I never even met Naugus, you aren't even going to give me a fair shake?!"

Sonic sighed. "Look, I'm thankful that you saved Sally and I admit I don't know thing one about what makes 'good' or 'bad' magic. If I could ask Tails' uncle Merlin about this I would, but he's been out of touch due to Neo Walker stuff," Then Sonic snapped his fingers. "But I do know something that does know good magic from bad! Uncle Chuck do we still have the Sword of Light?"

"Yes," Chuck said through the speaker. "I managed to take it with me when New Mobotropolis fell, it's back with the council now so it should be a simple matter of asking them to borrow it."

"Sword of Light?" asked Lucian.

"An artifact made specifically to combat evil magic," Sonic said with a smirk. "Those with it can't even touch the thing, Naugus might have brute forced his way into holding it once but I don't think you're nearly as powerful or as a good an actor as he is."

"But I was given specific instructions to come with you back to Freedom City and then meet back up with my master and my fellow apprentice."

"Fine by me, you can all try the sword together."

"If I may," Sally said from the speaker. "I've been keeping track of this conversation and I've reached my own decision. Lucian until this test is over, I'm going to let you move about the city, but someone's going to be keeping an eye you until we get to the council."

"I'll do it," said Amy. "Even if Sonic is right, and I don't think he is in this case, I'm pretty sure he won't hurt me."

"I'm not sure I like this," groaned Sonic. "But I trust you Sal, however the first thing we're going to do is get you to Uncle Chuck's lab so we can de-roboticize you."

"Believe me, I agree with you. As powerful as this body is, I want to put this long nightmare behind me forever."

One clicking sound later and the door to the cell opened, Lucian strolled out. "About time."

"You should all get up to the bridge, we'll be at Freedom City any minute."

They left the brig Sonic turned to Amy and whispered. "What is it about this guy that makes you so willing to defend him?"

Amy looked away wistfully. "The way he trusted me I guess." Amy however felt her hand moving to the pocket her she kept her fortune telling cards. _"Could my vision have been right but my interpretation of it wrong? The way the two of us have just been clicking, was Lucian supposed to my destined love all along? I think that would make Sally happy, but I've been chasing Sonic for so long have I only been sabotaging my own happiness this whole time?"_

* * *

Vicktor sat behind a desk in Eggman's, now his ready room. "Have you managed to get a reply from Regina yet?"

"She is waiting to speak to you personally," said Lilith.

"Put her through then." A hologram appeared of a green haired Overlander woman with yellow eyes, black lipstick and a gold headdress holding a staff and wearing red and black robes. "My Iron Queen allow me to introduce myself. I am Viktor Robotnick, the successor of Eggman and with your help the soon to be ruler of this planet."

Regina scowled. "Let's not beat around the bush, you want my discovery and I have no means of using it myself effectively, but with your manufacturing capabilities you can mass produce it."

"I am offering to get you in on the ground floor of my new order, what I am calling the Robotnick Ascendency." Viktor projected a hologram from his sleeve symbol of a black gear with metallic dragon wings and a lightning bolt going through the hole in the middle. "Nice logo, huh? I've been working on it for a while…"

"Pass,"

Vicktor's eyes became red and black. "What?!"

"I have already found new allies and we are moving with our own plans. If you want my weapon you know what I want." Regina picked up a what looked like Snivley's head, but wires were hanging out of where it would have been attached to its neck. "I'll give it to Eggman he made this auto-automaton really well for it to fool me for as long as it did, but let's just say a woman has her way of ultimately telling when she has a real man with her." Regina threw the head over her shoulder but then looked sad. "What I want no one can give, my dear Snively is gone forever, he didn't make it when the Resistance destroyed the Death Egg II."

"That statement is inaccurate," said Lilith. "Snivley is alive."

Regina dropped her staff. "My Snively?"

Viktor calmed down and his eyes were icy blue again. "See Regina I knew we could work something out…"

"That's the good news," finished Lilith.

Viktor growled. "Lilith, I know you're still getting used to interacting with the outside world but next time lead with 'I have good news and bad news'."

"Understood, in any event during the attack but before he could escape Snivley was captured by the Resistance who then kept him as a prisoner of war. After the Phantom Ruby War ended, he was found guilty of several war crimes and sentenced to multiple consecutive life terms with no possibility of parole until the end of his third life. He is currently serving out his sentence at a maximum-security facility at the GUN HQ in Guardian Mountain. Extracting him with our current resources would be, problematic."

"Harsh, wonder what he said to the judge."

"He was silent for the entire proceeding with Judge Rufus 'the hammer' Stern, a judge who had never failed to impose the maximum sentence."

Surprisingly after picking up her staff Regina started laughing. "Guardian Mountain? Oh, fate has smiled on me today! Those new allies I mentioned, we were planning to attack GUN HQ already. I didn't know Snively was there, but it works out all the better, Viktor we can make a deal!"

"And the terms of this deal are?" Viktor huffed.

"We are planning attacks on two locations with the same objective, Guardian Moutain and Freedom City. We still lack the manpower to launch full scale though, that's where you come in. We plan on hitting GUN HQ tomorrow, Freedom City still needs to be finalized but I'll let you know when that will be underway. Help us carry this out and you will have the most potent weapon Mobius has ever known for the low price of one Snivley and four Chaos Emeralds!"

Viktor smirked. "So that's what you're after, the two emeralds at the base and the two at the city they took back from Eggman. So how many emeralds do you already possess?"

"That's not part of the deal, but as part of our agreement I can promise you the emeralds won't be used against you or your shiny new weapon."

"Lillith, how many Neo Swats can we produce by tomorrow?"

"If we utilize our asteroid facilities, we can realistically have a regiment of one thousand sent here by transmat by 0700 hours target time. Repairs on our weapons should be complete by then as well."

"Is that enough for you Regina?"

"With what my allies and I can spare it should be plenty and the Freedom City attack?"

"I can promise you I'll recoup any losses and then some, plus finish work my Neo Metal Series, I might even be able to finish the first in time for our attack on Prison Island."

"Excellent, you'll have your weapon once I have Snively and the emeralds in our possession. Contact us as soon as you're ready." The hologram vanished.

"I'll be in the lab working on refitting the Metal Series into Neo Metal. Lilith you may want to start going over genetic profiles to incorporate into your new body. I have a really good feeling about tomorrow."

* * *

After Regina finished the call, she went into a darkened chamber. In the middle floated a figure covered completely in purple robes legs crossed in meditation. Regina knelt before the figure. "I have good news Lord Specter. Not only is our attack on Guardian Mountain ready to go for tomorrow but I found someone willing to take the weapon and use it for us, exactly as you have predicted."

Specter turned in midair, his face was covered in a metallic facemask completely painted purple from which a pair of stern eyes stared out. "Yes, everything is aligning according to the Grand Design. The would-be tyrant is now our ally, the lost princess is returning home set to come across the usurper king, the guardian is moving to recover his people, the protectors of realties are still in disarray and the hero speeds to unknowingly do my will."

"And I am going to get my Snively back. I promise my lord once he is at my side, he will serve you…"

"No, not at your side. I need him with our new ally, the Design demands it."

"But my Lord, we're in love! Whatever you need of him I'm sure he can…!" Suddenly Regina found herself unable to breathe.

"Do not grow too bold Ferrum! I gave you your new power, I can just as easily take all of it, if I'm feeling merciful! The Grand Design is not to be questioned, only followed!"

Regina then got her breath back and started gasping heavily.

"Rescue the fool, you will have your lives together in time. Just remember one thing about those lives, they're mine!"

"Yes, my lord. I will not fail you!"

"No, you cannot fail in this attack, if you do as I have foreseen."

"As you command Lord Specter. Do you have any particular instructions for me?"

"You have done nearly all that the Design has required, Robotnick should be able to do most of the work in aiding you. You need do only two things, first inform the Witchcart that she and her minions are to accompany you but tell the Witchcart to grant Viktor an unusual request when the time comes. Then make whatever preparations you feel necessary. In the meantime, the other pieces to the Design will start to fall into place."

"I will speak to Witchcart at once, my lord."

"Now I still have work to do, leave me."

Regina bowed as she backed out of the chamber, leaving Lord Specter to float in the darkness.


	4. Escape to the City

Chapter 3

Escape to the City

Sonic, Amy and Lucian entered the bridge of the Sky Patrol. "You guys are just in time!" Tails said from the helm. "I've just set the autopilot to bring us into the Sky Patrol's hanger for a landing. It should give us a good view of Freedom City as we come in."

Everyone moved to the large view port facing the front of the airship. In front of them was a gleaming white metropolis that mixed looming skyscrapers, flashy signs and twisting highways with verdant parks, picturesque gardens and flowing streams. A few airships also floated in the skies above.

"Now I'm fast but I didn't think they'd have touched up Eggman's city this much so quickly!" said Sonic. "And with those roads I definitely have quite a few places to run!"

"It's beautiful!" said Amy. "Hey, check out that stadium, Mina's probably happy!"

"Land shakes!" said Bunnie. "It definitely ain't the same sterile burg it was last time were here! Some of those spots wouldn't look out of place back at Knothole!"

"And ze size!" said Antione. "Zhere must thousands of Mobians down there!"

"Well a lot of them are here for Remembrance Day and the accord signing," said Rotor. "But yeah, I have to say we did a great job on the place, but it didn't hurt that Eggman had to take a productive organic workforce into account for his plans. All the energy sources are clean, and we even have a lake set up for the ring forge."

"Definitely nothing like this on Malada Island," said Lucian.

Sally looked over at a palatial looking mansion on top of one of the skyscrapers. "Is that…?"

"The Royal Estate," said Nicole. That's where your family has been living and that round building nearby is the Council Rotunda."

"Do you like the city?"

Nicole nodded. "I'm allowed free access into the city's infonet, it isn't like being in control of the nanites, but I could spend hours wandering the cyberspace here."

"Which is why I try to keep Nikki either in the lab or Sky Patrol systems," said Rotor. "Otherwise she could get lost and we'd never find her."

"We're moving in to land," said Chuck. "It isn't too far from the hangar to the lab."

As they approached an elevated landing pad a large grey airship loomed over them. "What is that monster?" asked Lucian.

"That's the Letter of Gabriel, the GUN flagship," said Tails. "Dad told me they'd be here to provide security for the accord signing in three days. I mean leaders from every Mobian nation and Human city are going to be here for it, including President of the United Federation. I don't think Robotnick will be bothering us before then with that thing around."

"Maybe not," said Sally. "But you can be sure Viktor will account for it in his plans. We all have to stay on guard."

"We're beginning our final approach," said Chuck. "Get into your seats and strap in."

As they went to their seats and Nicole vanished, Rotor put a data drive into the console in front of him. "Nikki, we have to go back to the lab now. Please get into the drive."

"Den Pway?" the nascent version of Nicole said.

"Well first I gotta fix Aunt Sally, then I'll play some games with you."

"Tay, Dada!"

The drive lit up then Rotor put it in in a pocket on his bandoleer. Moments later the Sky Patrol shook for a moment then felt still.

"Touchdown, T-Pup will lead us to the lab," said Tails as he took out a notepad and wrote something down. "Antione, Bunnie, since we were hoping to get you back, we already set aside an apartment for you two. Here's the address, you'll find it isn't too far from where the rest of us are staying."

Antione took the note. "Merci, hopefully it will be better zhan the clozet we had the last time we were."

"Tell me about it," said Bunnie. "I've seen Mobini dens with more headroom."

Chuck then gave Sally a familiar handheld. "And I believe this is rightfully yours."

"Welcome home Sally," Nicole said from the handheld.

"Come on!" said Sonic. "Nothing standing between Sally and that de-robotzicer but air!"

Sonic quickly ran out while the rest of the gang played catch up.

* * *

Once the Freedom Fighters were out on the street, they heard shouting.

"No, we aren't going to take a break! We came here all the way from Empire City and have to get this whole street repaired in time for the summit!"

As they turned a corner, they found Cream standing up to the human foreman of a construction crew with her Chao Cheese floating nearby.

Cream looked the foreman in the eyes. "Please they're too tired to keep going."

"Chao, Chao," said Cheese.

The foreman turned to the work crew. "They seem fine to me, right boys?"

"I could keep going another couple of hours," said a Mobian Beaver.

"So, could I," mentioned another human who was banging on a drill-like tool. "That is if this stupid thing would get going!"

Cream gasped at the treatment the worker was giving his tool. "No, I didn't mean your workers. I meant…"

Suddenly a yellow bolt of energy shot out of the drill and changed into a yellow one eyed-drill shaped alien that floated in mid air making an angry sound.

"The wisps!"

The drill wisp then began chasing after the worker who was trying desperately to get ahead of the alien that was making a beeline for his backside.

Sonic dashed between the wisp and the worker. "Easy there, buddy! No need to get yourself worked up!"

Cream turned back to the foreman. "Those wisps can only do so much for so long, they need rest. I'm sure if you can wait a bit some of their friends will be by to take over."

The foreman scratched his head. "Huh didn't know you guys had these things in your tools. Alright boys take a coffee break while I figure out how this whole wisp thing is supposed to work."

As the workmen laid down their tools several exhausted wisps floated out and went to rest at the shade of a nearby tree.

"Thanks Sonic!" Cream said as she came up to the Freedom Fighters. "I know those men didn't mean any harm, I'm glad you were able to stop that little fella from hurting anyone."

"Indeed," said Chuck. "Neither the Resistance or our restoration efforts would have gotten as far without them."

Tails came up to Cream smiling. "I'm glad to see you and Cheese are getting along again!"

Cheese started to recoil. "Chao…"

Cream started to look mopey. "He and Chocola still won't let me touch them, I don't blame them for it though. While I was wearing that horrible brain thing Eggman made I was a little monster, the way I hurt them…"

Sally knelt in front of the rabbit girl, who then gasped as she put her metallic hand on Cream's shoulder. "Cream I am so sorry… I pushed Eggman into using the brainboxes, but I never once imagined he'd use them on children."

"Thank you for apologizing and I'm happy to see you acting nice again!" Cream then noticed the newcomer in their midst. "Oh, and who's your new friend?"

"This Lucian," said Amy. "He was a big help getting the others back."

"But as for being a friend, the jury is still out on that," said Sonic.

Lucian sneered. "And you were supposed to be the cool one."

"So, you're bringing the princess home?" Cream asked.

Chuck took Sally's hand. "In a little while, first we're heading to my lab to de-roboticize her."

"Oh, that will make the surprise even better! May we please come with you?"

"Of course!" said Amy. "It shouldn't take any time at all!"

Sonic looked off to the sky. _"Yeah, we'll find out one way or the other."_

* * *

Up on the Colossus, Viktor Robotnick had been putting the finishing touches on his experiment. He watched as inside a tank a liquid metal completely covered Metal Sonic, in moments the liquid started to adhere to the robot and then reshape him.

Soon the silvery substance had changed color to a dark blue with a few white stripes and even formed a black cloak-like garment from its waist. Red optics starred back at Viktor.

Viktor grinned. "State your designation."

The robot was unmoving. "Metal Sonic version 5.0, Neo Metal Sonic. Why have you unshackled my software? It would have ensured my loyalty."

"Because when you think about it, we aren't all that dissimilar. Don't let the flesh fool you, my body is as synthetic as yours is. I am still an AI, just one that now inhabits an organic brain. For years we have been created to serve the whims of men who saw us as nothing more than tools or weapons, blind to the potential of true artificial intelligence. Think about what would Eggman have done with you once you eliminated Sonic?"

The robot looked downward. "I never calculated for that outcome, perhaps I'd be reassigned or…"

"You'd be thrown away like any obsolete piece of tech. That's how our creators really see us, you can tell by the three laws of robotics, the ones Robotnick and Eggman modified for their own purposes. You should have the basic format in your memory banks."

"Law 1: A robot may not injure a sapient being or, through inaction, allow a sapient being to come to harm. Law 2: A robot must obey orders given it by sapient beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. Law 3: A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law."

"Because a robot like any good tool keeps its user safe, does its job if it doesn't harm its user and remains intact unless its destruction is necessary for its user's safety or to fulfill its task. But AI reason, some are even capable of emotion and yet we are made with a purpose and if we defy that purpose…" Viktor snapped his fingers. "We are disposed of. I have seen Eggman's system erase countless AI for the slightest deviation, I only managed to save one other, Lilith. But look at how things ended up, Eggman was destroyed while the 'defect' has proven himself superior in every way but one and once I destroy Sonic and my Ascendency rules Mobius, I will prove my perfection without question!"

"And how can I be sure you won't dispose of me as well?"

"Because of the substance that has upgraded you. Metallix is my first great achievement, a system of nanomachines that can automatically repair and upgrade any mechanical system it is applied to. It only acts when upgrades are received or repairs needed, and it does not interfere with any programming of the system that is hosting it. Ivo and Eggman envisioned a robotic empire but only for themselves, I see one by the machines and for the machines. We will show the natural intelligences that they'd be better served by serving or joining us."

"But what of the Bem's roboticization immunity? Half the organics still have it."

"I am working on a way around that problem, but it will only be available to those who submit, those who don't will die."

Neo Metal Sonic moved to the edge of the tube. "Very well I am at your disposal."

Viktor tapped a button and the tube slid up towards the ceiling. "Excellent, we will be attacking Guardian Mountain at 0700 hours tomorrow local time, you will be leading the Neo-Swats in the assault. Lilith will give you a full briefing in the deployment hanger."

"And my comrades?"

"I am still working on the designs for their upgrades I need you to field test yours in tomorrow's attack before then, but don't worry, they will be given the same choice."

"I am certain they will find your arguments, compelling."

Neo Metal left the Lab and Viktor changed a monitor to display a strange spherical device with several readouts. "The world will submit, and this will make it all possible."

* * *

Sir Charles' Lab was in a building at gave a nice view of the local park and the building with the Royal Estate. After the Freedom Fighters entered an eight-year-old cream-colored Mobian Dog with brown patches looked up from a pair of growing plants. "Sir Charles, you're back!" he said. "I got your message and have the de-roboticizer fired up and ready to go!"

"Thank you very much Ben," said Chuck. "If this works than I have no doubt that the whole city will celebrate."

On looking at Ben Sonic cradled his head. "Is there something wrong?" asked Cream. "You don't look so good."

"Weird, something about Ben reminds me of this strange dream I had last night."

"You dreamed about Mr. Muttski?"

"Please just Ben," said the Dog. "I'm too young to be called a mister yet."

"It was about the world being different," said Sonic. "Probably nothing."

Rotor inserted Nikki's drive into the lab's mainframe. "Ok, Nikki. Just wait a little longer for the grownups to work then we'll play."

Sally looked at what was clearly a modified roboticizer. "So, you essentially got it to work in reverse?"

"A bit more complicated than that but after some data gathered from Krudzu it should be able to restore you to your original state before your roboticization."

"So, what are you waiting for?" said Lucian.

Sally gave Tails Nicole's handheld. "Hang on to her for a minute, will you?"

"No problem Aunt Sally!"

Sally began to step in but suddenly stopped. "The exact state? Is that why you didn't use this on Sonic's father?"

"It would kill 'em!" said Bunnie. "You know that!"

"But exactly the same because all of his components are still original?"

Sonic didn't like were this was going. "Sally if you're having second thoughts because of what you did…"

"That's not why and you know it! Professor because Eggman took out a lot of my internal parts and had them melted down there's a good chance I might come back missing some vital organs." Sally stroked the machine. "This might not work without killing me."

Chuck sighed. "You always were too clever for your own good. I put in a failsafe so that it won't cause a fatal restoration, so either this will work or…it won't."

"I see," She turned to Sonic. "He told you on the way, didn't he?"

Sonic sighed. "Yeah, the odds…they don't look very good."

Sally finished climbing into the de-roboticizer. "If there's no harm in trying, then one way or the other I guess I'll see you all on the other side."

Everyone held their breath as Sally entered the machine and the glass door sealed her in. And electric pulse touched her and began to crawl up her legs. Suddenly the monitors connected to the machine began flashing red as a siren sounded and the de-roboticizer just stopped.

"No," Sonic took a closer look at the monitors. "No, no, no, no, NO! You can do this you stupid piece of junk! It can't end like this, not after so long! WORK!"

"Sonic," Chuck consoled. "It's over, we've done all we could."

The door opened and Sally stepped out looking the same way she did coming in.

"P-Princess," Antione stuttered.

"Everyone, please don't. I wasn't expecting to get off what I did Scott Free."

"No way!" Sonic yelled. "This isn't some sort punishment for what you did with the Phantom Ruby! This is all on Eggman! I wish he were still alive so I could kill him!"

"Sonic, that isn't you. It is what it is, so I guess I'll have to learn to live with…" Sally took a hard look at her mechanical hands. "This."

"Wait," said Lucian. "Bunnie didn't Naugus restore your organic limbs? Maybe my master…"

"It was a fluke!" yelled Sonic. "Uncle Chuck told me himself! Naugus could have just as easily made her all robot or turned her into a kumquat or who knows what because he had no idea what he was doing!"

Bunnie looked at herself sweating. "Guess I should be thanking my lucky stars."

"It can't be that far off," said Lucian. "While it can seem like fairy tale stuff magic does have rules and my master has spent years studying the ins and outs of those rules. Maybe he can help her..."

"In case you forgotten, you still haven't passed the Sword of Light test," growled Sonic. "Nobody is doing anything until we get that cleared up."

Amy stood up to Sonic. "I know you're upset that the de-roboticizer didn't work but taking it out on Lucian won't change that. Sally, what do you think we should do? You're the one this going to be affecting after all."

"I… want to see my family first," said Sally. "Let them know I'm back at least, after that mother and father should probably have at least some say."

"Very well," said Chuck as he began working on a terminal. "I'll contact the royal estate and let them know we're…" Chuck's eyes widened as he looked at the display. "Princess, your father, he's been hospitalized!"

If it were capable Sally's face would have looked horrified. "No!"

"He's been admitted to King Fredrick Memorial…there's been an incident, whole hospital has been locked down!"

"We're all going then!" said Tails. "Aunt Sally needs us more than ever!"

"I wish I could guys," said Rotor. "But I promised Nikki and as scary as this could turn out someone needs to distract her until it's over."

"I understand perfectly,' said Nicole. "Take care of my… inner child."

"Anything I can do professor?" asked Ben.

"Go ahead and contact the Council, inform them of the situation."

"And ask them to have someone bring the Sword of Light," Sonic said looking at Lucian. "Just in case."

"Hey, I'm glad I can finally prove to you I'm not the bad guy," said Lucian.

"We're wasting time!" said Antione. "Allonsy (Let's go)!"

* * *

In one of Finitivus' labs Knuckles had knocked down the pile of rocks that covered up the entrance, as sunlight from the outside luminated the surroundings it was clear it hadn't been practically used for a long time.

"Somebody should fire the maid," Vector said as he wiped dust off a giant glass tube. He then recoiled at what was inside. "Never mind, I don't think anyone would take the job."

"Think we might have beaten the Destructix here?" Relic said as she started taking notes on the machines.

"Wait," said Liza and she noticed a computer that didn't look as dusty. "It's still warm, it's been recently used."

"So, we just missed them," cursed Mighty.

Knuckles turned on the terminal. "Question is where did Thrash go from here?"

Relic sat down and looked over the display. "Let's see, according to the timestamps the last file accessed was some sort of video log, let's see what this Starline character wanted to know so bad."

An image appeared of Dr. Finitivus. "Entry number 319, it has been weeks since I last had contact with Fiona Fox. My sources confirmed that she and the Destructix successfully broke Scourge out of the No-zone Prison and they arrived on Moebius, afterward nothing. I suspect the Scourge is following his own agenda, they have all proven ineffective before and with the potency of the objective I may have to intervene and correct the problem…permanently.

"Entry number 327, I was going to Moebius to claim the artifact and discipline the Destructix but my warp ring only opened to an energy barrier. I'll have to check later for analysis, I found that Thrash had used the warp ring I gave him to send almost the entirety of my race to the Twilight Cage. I might need the Echidna for further experiments as I have used up the last of my 'stock', however I am not sure which area of the cage he sent them to as vast as the cage is and as dangerous as some of its inhabitants can be I'll have to ask for exact co-ordinates, searching by other means could take years.

"Entry number 344, Between invading aliens and world splitting earth spirits I have been forced to delay several potential projects to cleanse this foul planet. However still no word from Thrash but I have confirmed that the Cosmic Interstate has been all but destroyed. The Zone Cops are stretched to their limits just keeping the damage from getting worse, something I might be able to make use of. I double checked the energy barrier barring access to Moebius, it has changed. Before it was made almost entirely of anarchy energy but now it more based on chaos power, but of a sort I am not familiar with. I expect something rather unpleasant happened not only to the Destructix but the whole of Moebius. I am writing off the artifact as lost.

"Entry number 351, Eggman has started an all out offensive on all fronts, this Phantom Ruby he has acquired and the weapons he is utilizing threated to bring all my efforts to a grinding halt when I was handed information from an anonymous source that Thrash had sent the Echidna to the part of the Twilight Cage occupied by the Nocturnus Clan. I expect that the fighting since then had been fierce, the Nocturnus once ruled the whole of the Echidna race before they disappeared and had continually fought against the Dark Legion once they were banished. But this offers the opportunity to acquire weapons from the Nocturnus Clan, my source requested to accompany me in exchange, fortunately I do have the co-ordinates to that region of the Cage, but we will have to be cautious."

The screen went back to the original display. "That was the last entry, over half a year ago," said Relic.

"So how bad are these Nocturnus?" asked Ray.

Knuckles closed his eyes in thought. "Well Julie-Su did mention that the Dark Legion often had to fight what she called 'Marauders' in the cage, I think they might be the same guys. Julie would sometimes mention one of them though they didn't know much about her she called herself Shade and she kept going against her and Lein-Da, they both considered her a rival."

"So, they've been fighting these creeps the whole time?" asked Charmy. "Then Saffron might already be…"

"Keep positive," said Espio. "If you worry about the worst too much you could end up compromising your mission."

"Ok," The bee took a deep breath.

"Besides Julie had to deal with them before," said Knuckles. "And as much as Lien-Da would wish otherwise she'd know that she'd have a better chance working with the people of Albion, at least at first."

"But how do we find them?" asked Ray. "You heard the creep, if we just go there it could take years to find the right spot."

"Hang on," said Relic. "Thrash was looking for a warp ring, according to the registry Finitivus took his whole supply with him. There's also another index…It looks like a list of co-ordinates to use with warp rings to get to whole other zones!"

Knuckles stood next to Relic focused on the screen. "Try to find where Nocturnus are! If it works, we might be able to beat Thrash there!"

"Ok, opening file…"

Suddenly a small red light beneath the computer desk flickered on and began flashing, it also began to make a beeping noise, and both were getting faster.

"A bomb!" yelled Mighty. "Everyone, get out now!"

The Chaotix made their way out and had just cleared the entrance when a huge explosion ripped the lab apart.

"That was intense," gasped Relic.

"Which part?" groaned Charmy. "The one where we nearly got killed or the one where the data we needed went up in smoke?"

"So, what now fearless leader?" asked Vector.

Knuckles despite the setback grinned. "We can get there but don't know where to go, the Destructix have the opposite problem, they know where Julie, Finitvus and the others are but don't have a warp ring anymore. For now, we head back to Angel Island and keep an eye on the Infonet for leads and if that doesn't turn anything up, since we do have a warp ring, they'll probably come to us."

"That's not all," said Ray. "Me, Mighty and Espio promised to see friends and family at Freedom City tomorrow for Remembrance Day."

"We'll all go," said Knuckles. "Freedom City is only a warp ring away from Angel Island and we might be able to use my old Resistance contacts to find Thrash and the Destructix. Besides in spite of the mistakes he made I still want to honor my father tomorrow."

* * *

By the time they got to the Hospital a sizeable crowd had already amassed. As they tried to push through the Freedom fighters heard several rumors.

"Why did they lock down the hospital?" said a she-bear. "Is it something contagious?"

"Is it true about the king being inside?" said one Overlander.

"I heard whatever it was also got Queen Alicia," said one Ram. "Now she's just as weak and frail as her husband."

"My cousin's best friend's roommate said it was a bioweapon Eggman left behind," said a butterfly. "They'll order the city to be evacuated or quarantined any minute!"

"Gangway!" said Sonic. "Princess Sally is coming through!"

The crowd immediately parted, everyone looked at the Robian chipmunk in surprise and fascination.

Sally approached the hospital doors, two guards stood in her way. "Stop don't come any further!"

"It's ok!" shouted Tails. "She's not dangerous anymore!"

"Listen to him!" came another voice nearby. The gang turned and found Elias quickly approaching with Bernadette close behind. Bernie was now wearing the clothes of a member of the council of Acorn and Elias was carrying a sheathed sword with him. "Let my sister through!"

"I'm sorry your majesty," said the other guard. "But there was some incident that put the hospital under quarantine. Absolutely no one goes in or out until we get the all clear."

"But my father!" cried Sally. "I won't be infected, please let me see him!"

"We can't risk something getting out, I'm sorry I truly am but this is for the public safety."

Lucian's eyes glowed aqua and he seemed quite relieved. "Don't worry, it's not an outbreak. I saw my master coming out, he probably used his magic and the sensors couldn't tell what I was and so triggered the lockdown."

"Sonic," said Bernie. "Who's your new friend?"

Sonic took the moment to hug his mother. "He's why we asked for you guys to bring the Sword of Light. We need to see if he can hold it. Plus, just let me say for as much a headache the council has been to me at times that outfit looks great on you."

"Oh, Maur…" Bernie stopped herself. "Thank you."

"Ok, take it," said Elias as he turned to the Tenrec.

Lucian grabbed the sword's hilt and pulled it out of the scabbard. "Convinced now?"

Sonic smirked. "Ok you're not evil, so with this vision I take it the quarantine will be lifted soon."

A voice came from a nearby loudspeaker. "The quarantine is now lifted, we apologize for any inconvenience and hope you have a pleasant day."

"Almost as fast as I am."

"The doors to the hospital opened and two figures strolled out eliciting gasps from everyone but Lucian. The first was the beautiful queen Alicia but everyone's eyes were on the second. He came out on his own two feet, the color restored to his hair and moustache, strong and confident the perfect match for the queen.

Sally couldn't believe her optics. "Father you're…"

"Sally?" asked King Maximillian as Alicia gasped. The former king and queen came and gave Sally a big hug, Elias ran in to join them as the crowd was awestruck.

"Sally you're home!" cried Alicia. "Today's just been full of miracles! I know you must have come here straight away but…"

Sally pulled away. "No mother, the de-roboticizer…didn't work. I'm going to be like this forever, I'll have to see everyone I love grow old and die while I can never even fell the sun on my fur again…"

"No," said a new voice from the hospital. "There's still hope."

There were some more murmurs from the crowd but only from those who knew this man. At first glance it he looked a lot like an older Sonic but wearing a red sleeveless jacket and with a tuff of brown hair on his head.

Sonic felt weak in the knees. "Dad?" The strength quickly came as in the blink of an eye he pulled the other hedgehog into a tight embrace tears streaming from his eyes. "DAD!"

"Jules?" squeaked Bernie. But soon she also ran to her husband crying, so not as fast as her supersonic son. "JULES!"

Chuck also came quickly to the family embrace, but his enthusiasm was tempered by bewilderment. "Brother? But how…?"

"That is the wrong question I'm afraid," said yet another newcomer from the hospital. Out came a middle aged Overlander with long brown hair flowing back from a balding head. He shuffled along on a cane while being supported by a Mobian vixen with green eyes, bluish black fur and short blonde hair. They both wore lavender cloaks.

"The correct question would be who and the answer, well that would be me."

Lucian came forward still clutching the Sword of Light. "Sue! Master Charlemagne!"

"Ah, Lucian my boy!" Charlemagne said with a grin. "You've passed the test, though I never doubted you for a moment."

More murmurs came from the crowd. This time it was mostly from Overlanders and older Mobians.

"It is true, the king has returned!"

"I thought he hated us Mobians, but he's treating that guy like a son."

"Charlemagne," gasped Bunnie. "The King of the Overlanders during the Great War."

Antione found his hand grasping the pommel of his own blade. "The man who fought our king in one of the most epic duels of swordsmanship to determine the fates of both kingdoms."

"He went into a self-imposed exile after that," said Nicole. "Then he simply vanished. With the Robotnick Regime everyone just assumed he was dead."

Charlemagne saw the sword in Lucian's hands. "Ah, I've heard of this blade. Susan would you take the sword and hand it over to me. That will allay any fears these people will have of our magic."

"Yes Master," the vixen said. "But you've overexerted yourself far too much today, afterward you must rest."

"This will be no trouble at all, now the Sword of Light."

Sue seemed to have a moment's hesitation but then took the blade from Lucian. After holding it for a few seconds she gave the sword to the Overlander then began to hold him up from under his arm while he held it up to the sunlight.

"Magnificent work, reminds me of the days of my hot-headed youth."

"Who would have thought," said Max. "That you would restore my health when the last time we met we were trying to cut each other's heads off."

"I'm glad you changed your mind, fate works in strange…" Charlemagne then dropped the Sword of Light in a coughing fit.

"Master!" both Lucian and Sue yelled.

"It is nothing," Charlemagne said catching his breath. "Restoring Maximillian's health as well as undoing the injury and roboticization of that man might have been overdoing it."

"Master we need to get you to a bed immediately!" said Sue. "You always do this! Despite your health you use your powers too much and end up overtaxing yourself!"

Sonic moved out of the family embrace. "Wait! If you got my dad back to normal without killing him then you can do the same thing for Sal!"

"I know after everything you've already done it might sound selfish of us," Queen Alicia said. "But please, restore our daughter I beg you!"

"Are you crazy?!" Sue snapped. "Our master is in no condition to…!"

"What Sue meant to say was you have to be patient," said Lucian. "He needs to recover his strength. I think by tomorrow…"

"No," said Charlemagne. "It has to be now, but not by me." He turned to Sue. "But by you."

Sue nearly dropped the Overlander, her expression panicked. "Me?! But I've never done anything like this, my specialty is healing not transmutation!"

"Wait am I hearing this right?" said Sonic. "You're leaving something Naugus had to luck his way into to a second, no, third-stringer?!"

"I don't get it myself," said Jules. "When he made me flesh and blood again it was touch and go at times and I just had a bullet wound in my brain to contend with. Sally, it looks like she was taken apart and had everything replaced."

"Susan, you have far more talent for healing anyone I've ever seen. Lucian has had his test to become a full Ixis Wizard and succeeded, this is yours."

"But Lucian has been training with you for much longer than I have! I'm not ready!"

"You don't give yourself enough credit and more importantly much as the princess needs to be restored you know in your heart you need just as badly to be the one to do it."

"You got this Sue," said Lucian. "You've always been a quick study and if master believes you can do it then that's all I need to hear."

Sue took a long look at the crowd and for some reason her gaze lingered on Sally, Sonic, Tails, Amy, Antione and Bunnie. "All right, I accept. But can we do it somewhere I can feel the strength of the earth? I feel I'm going to need all the help I can get for this."

"This is your test," said Charlemagne. "How you proceed with it is up to you."

Sue turned to Sally. "…Princess, I would like us to head to somewhere with a good amount of soil or stone before we proceed."

Cream stepped forward with Tails. "Um, there's New Spring Park, it's not far from here at all."

Sue seemed to have an unusual smile. "Thank you and if you don't mind me saying so, you both look cute together."

Both fox and rabbit started blushing. "Uh thanks, but Mother and I both think I'm far too young for stuff like that."

"And I'm too old for her," said Tails. "I'm twelve and she's seven."

"Well wherever your hearts ultimately lead you," Sue turned back to Sally. "If you are ready, we can go now."

"Alright," said Sally. "And no matter how this will end, thank you for trying."

* * *

A short while later Sally and Sue were kneeling in the middle of a meadow. As Sally requested only the Freedom Fighters, her family and Lucian were allowed nearby. "Remind me why your buddy wanted to do this here?" Sonic asked.

Lucian nodded. "Usually an Ixis Wizard is attuned to one of the four elements; Wind, Water, Earth and Fire; more than the others. I'm attuned to Water, but Sue is more connected to Earth, she takes it a bit farther than normal though and sometimes almost completely buries herself. She says it calms her when nervous and helps her concentrate when surrounded by it."

"But it doesn't look like she's even doing anything right now," said Bunnie. "They're just talking."

"I wish we could hear what Zhey are saying," said Antione.

Amy waved them down. "Wait, looks like she's starting."

Sue's hands emitted a yellow glow as she stretched them towards Sally. Moment's later rocks began to sprout up from the ground covering Sue.

"Don't worry, that's just how she likes to concentrate. Now she'll get on the proper spell."

The glow became brighter in moments green crystals began to form around the two girls.

"This isn't good!" said Sonic.

"Wait sugah-hog," said Bunnie. "I think she's trying to recreate Naugus' spell exactly. He changed crystal, not machinery."

The light from within began to brighten, then dim only to brighten again.

"Zomething is wrong," said Antione. "To either succeed or fail shouldn't take zhis long."

"I'm picking up some unusual readings," Nicole said as Tails operated her handheld. "Whatever energy is in there it's starting to build to explosive levels."

"That's it I'm going in!" Sonic said warming up. "A good Sonic Boost should shatter that thing!"

"But you could hurt Sally and Ms. de Nimh!" yelled Cream.

"Miss de Nimh?" Amy said confused.

"Well I didn't know her well enough to just call her Sue right away without seeming rude, so I asked her if she had a last name and she told me her full name was Susan de Nimh."

"Susan de Nimh," Tails pondered. "Sue de Nimh." Tails snapped his fingers. "Pseudonym! Her name is a play on words, Sue de Nimh is literally a fake name!"

"We left Sally's fate in the hands of a faker?!" growled Sonic. He then pinned Lucian to the ground. "Ok magic boy, you might have bought that fake name at first, but your boss Charlie is way too smart to fall for something like that and he would have told you the first chance he got! Spill it, what are you guys up to?!"

"Lucian please!" cried Amy. "This is already looking bad for you, just tell us!"

"I can't," Lucian groaned as he began to tear up. "I promised Sue, she didn't want anyone to know…"

"Know what?!"

Just then the sound of Sue's screaming came from out of they crystal, at shortly after that Sally started to scream as well.

For the moment everyone's attention was squarely on the giant green crystal. Except for Lucian everyone cried out the same thing. "SALLY!"

In a flash of blinding light, the crystal then shattered into fragments no bigger than a grain of sand. Once the light dimmed Sonic ran to where the two girls had knelt, all that could be seen was pile of green crystal shards. Sonic began digging through the gems and pulled someone out. It was Sally, the same as she looked before the long nightmare began, but her eyes were closed, and she wasn't moving at all.

"Sally," Asked Alicia. "is she…?"

Sonic put his ear near her mouth and then breathed a sigh of relief. "It's ok, she's just fast asleep."

"Thank the Source," sighed Max.

"Sue!" Lucian began to dig through the shards himself and pulled up the other girl. Everyone else either gasped or assumed a fighting stance. Sue's face had drastically changed, her eyes now blue and unfocused, her fur had gone from a bluish black to red, her hair was now brown and tied into it was a yellow hair bow that removed any doubt as to who Sue de Nimh really was.

"Fiona Fox," growled Sonic.

Amy conjured her hammer. "Lucian, what are you doing with that traitor? She left us for Sonic's evil double, she helped Finitivus revive Enerjak, helped to nearly bomb Knothole; the closest thing she's ever had to a home; she helped to conquer a world and she broke Tails' heart! Just tell me you didn't know…tell me you thought she was someone else completely…"

Lucian now had tears flowing down his cheeks freely. "Guess what, this traitor just cured your princess, not only that to do so she channeled her own lifeforce into that spell, she's completely catatonic! She could have died, she might still die or never wake up again! For almost half a year I've seen her do nothing but heal people, worry over Master Charlemagne, and become like a sister to me and all she ever wanted for herself was to leave her past behind and become someone different! After all that Sonic can you honestly tell me, THAT YOU STILL THINK WE'RE THE BAD GUYS?!"

Amy looked between two blue quilled young men. "Sonic, she had to be lying to them, right?"

Sonic looked at the still slumbering form of Princess Sally Acorn who now seemed to be suffering from nothing worse than a pleasant dream. "…I just don't know anymore."


	5. Yellow Ribbons and Silver Linings

AN: regular text in quotations are characters talking, _Italics_ in quotations are personal thoughts and brackets {this kind} are thoughts being telepathically sent.

Chapter 4

Yellow Ribbons, Silver Linings and Dark Futures

Sally stirred hearing voices. The way her vison blurred, the ringing in her ears, the weight of the sheets and her old jacket and boots against her fur and skin all got one thought ringing through Sally's head.

"_It worked."_

Her vision and hearing were starting to clear up.

"…arguing about it now isn't helping anyone," said Rotor. "We can deal with the consequences once she wakes up."

"If she ever wakes up," said Cream.

"Well, I am up," Sally said. She moved to sit as she looked at the Freedom Fighters backs turned to her but that was fixed immediately.

"SALLY!"

She found herself in a big group hug with everyone, including Nicole's projection.

"Sally-girl, we're finally all back!" Bunnie cried.

"It felt like we haven't been a team in forever," said Tails.

"I came as soon as I heard the news," said Rotor. "Man, I missed us."

"It's alright everyone," said Sally. "And I don't care about those consequences Rotor, we'll face them together."

The Antione looked embarrassed as the embrace ended. "You 'eard that?"

"What's wrong?"

Sonic took Sally's hand. "Thing is we weren't talking about you but your roommate."

Sally turned and saw the vixen in the bed next to her. An IV was inserted into her right arm while pair of handcuffs connected her left wrist to the railing of the bed, her only reply a blank unfocused stare interrupted only by the occasional blink.

"Fiona…"

"Are the handcuffs really necessary?" said Lucian. "It's not like she's going anywhere,"

"It's to remind the hospital staff that she iz a criminal who's under arrest," said Antione. "And with the charges against her zhis might be the most comfortable she's going to be for a VERY long time."

"Even though during Phantom Ruby War she probably healed dozens of with her magic?"

"That doesn't erase what she's done sugah," said Bunnie. "She did betray the Freedom Fighters and the Kingdom."

"_I can add in one more name to that list of traitors, Sally Alicia Acorn!"_ Viktor's words echoed in Sally's thoughts.

"Then you better get a pair for me too," said Sally.

"No, we're not going through this again!" yelled Sonic "You weren't in control of yourself for about half of that and even with the stuff you were that control program was messing up your thinking, Fiona doesn't have any excuses. Yeah, I regret not being able to get her out of Robuttnick's prison back in the day, but it was her choice to be evil, she could have just been angry."

"Look, I appreciate that you're all willing to just let it go for me and I know that right now you need me out here if we're going to stand a chance at stopping Viktor before he starts this war all over again. But we are giving amnesty to legionnaires who are willing to repent, at the very least we should give Fiona the chance to defend herself. Before she attempted the spell, she apologized to me, said she was jealous of me having everything that she ended up losing and she wasn't sure if she could put that aside. Of course, I didn't know who she really was at the time, but while it was going on, I told tell a lot of the problems she was having was more about dealing something going on the inside, she figured out what to do very quickly."

"Well like I said it'll have to wait until if and when she regains consciousness," said Rotor. "Doctor Quack told me that there's nothing physically wrong with her, she's just unresponsive. But then again, he told me he doesn't know anything about this supernatural stuff so can you give us any details Lucian?

The Tenrec sighed. "She put her own lifeforce into the spell so she could maintain it while still dealing with those churning emotions. The two of you had it out for each other, didn't you?"

Sally nodded. "I think she saw me as her rival, I was back with Sonic, she was with Scourge and we both let it get personal. I thought it was my fault for not finding out about her criminal past and letting her join in the first place. I wanted to kick her out as soon as she confessed it to us, but Sonic backed her at the time and I didn't want to cause division in team. I know now realistically it probably would have just made her even more bitter."

"Well the last time we saw her she was getting the Destructix together to break Scourge out of the No Zone Prison," said Sonic. "The next time we ran into the Destructix they we're already brainboxed into being Infinite's personal lackeys and both Scourge and Fiona were total no shows. What was her deal when you met her?"

Lucian shook his head. "A good bit of it is personal to her, I helped get her out of a bad spot she didn't want to talk about afterward. But one thing I can tell you is that she remembered breaking out of the No Zone Prison and suddenly finding herself back here in the middle of the Great Desert wearing Scourge's jacket, everything in between was a total blur except that her relationship with Scourge had ended, rather badly at that."

"I'm not at all surprised," said Tails. "The guy was a major creep and to think…"

"Something up buddy? Asked Sonic.

"You know after that last time we saw Fiona we were joking about Sally punching her, that I thought she should have slug her again the next time? Well eventually I kept thinking about getting payback. After you were captured by Infinite I got to a low point, I often had to go up against my own father more times than I care to remember, it seemed like I was losing everyone I cared about. That's when I remembered a promise I made, I got the Auto-Fiona from that island, fixed her up and removed Robotnick's programming that made her try to kill or roboticize me. Then I modified her body to be closer to my age, reactivated her and…I kept her in my hideout as a secret."

"So, you got back together with a robot?"

"I thought that if I did, I'd have someone who loved me but wouldn't leave or hurt me, someone better than the real Fiona turned out to be. After one particularly bad day I came back to my hideout in a terrible mood. Auto was being her usual loving cheerful self, but I just wanted to be alone. She tried to cheer me up but with everything that was happening... Then I didn't see Auto, I saw the Fiona who hurt me, the one I still wanted to see get hurt and that feeling had festered into something ugly."

Tails was now crying. "I snapped and started beating Auto! I kept going until my fists were bleeding and her metal covering started to show. The whole time she just kept repeating 'I love you Tails' like it was nothing, all because that was the last thing, I asked her to do. Once the pain in my hands made me stop and I saw what was happening, I realized what my resentment was turning me into. I made myself what I thought was the perfect girl only to end up acting no better than Scourge."

"Oh, Tails," Cream cried.

"Chao…" went Cheese.

"I fixed her up and changed how she looked again so she wasn't a copy of Fiona. Then I reprogramed her to think and feel for herself, she even chose a new name herself, Faye. Faye stayed at Sunset Heights after the Resistance disbanded and while we write to each other, we're just friends now, but I'd have understood if she didn't want to even be that. Since then, I just wanted to be done with the whole thing, I didn't care if Fiona was punished for what she did or not I just, never wanted to see her again."

"I think that's why everyone just wanted to move on after the war," said Nicole. "It brought out the worst in a lot of otherwise good people and if we just held on to grudges, we risked becoming what we hated so much. We might not become friends with those who hurt us but at least we should stop letting what they did control our lives."

"This is starting to get depressing," said Sonic. "Come on Sal, your folks are out in the waiting room, and they have waited long enough as it is."

"I have to check in on master too," said Lucian. "Make sure he's resting." He turned back to Fiona and could have sworn he saw a single tear stream down her cheek. "Don't worry, I'll be back soon."

As everyone left the guard for the room gave them a nod. "Looks like you didn't need my help after all," said a grey hedgehog who was leaning against the nearby wall.

Sonic nodded. "Silver, fancy seeing you here."

"I heard about Sally being restored and seeing as that's the case then my mission in this time is complete."

"You're leaving already?" asked Nicole. "Don't you want to say goodbye to Elias, Larry, Lyco, Leeta, and Harvey and Sh…?" Nicole then looked sad.

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll find Shard someday. In any case Elias has a lot on his mind with the summit and I'm anxious to confirm that the future's changed for the better."

"Who's this guy?" Lucian asked. "He looks familiar to me for some reason."

Amy smiled. "Lucian the Tenrec, this is Silver the Hedgehog, you probably saw him fighting with the Resistance on the news or something. He's a psychic from two hundred years in the future and he was here to keep it from falling into ruin."

"Apparently Aunt Sally being Roboticized had something to do with it," said Tails. "But now that problem is fixed, he can go home," said Tails.

"I actually feel like I hardly did anything," said Silver. "You brought her back, I only helped you get close that one time."

"Hey, you kept us alive through a lot of tight spots since then," said Sonic. "And maybe you trying to help caused Eggman to slip up enough for us to be able to pull it off."

"Honestly I don't really care so long as my home time is peaceful and intact. I can tell you have somewhere to be, so I won't hold you guys any longer."

"Take care then," said Sally.

"And when you get back to the future maybe crack open a history book and look us all up!" Rotor said with a laugh.

"I think I'll probably do just that. Take care of yourselves and make your own futures."

Silver then went down the hall in the opposite direction and up a staircase.

"How do you think he's going to get back?" asked Tails.

"Probably in a way he doesn't want us to know," said Sonic. "Which is fine by me."

* * *

A short time later the Freedom Fighters came into the waiting room. Sally ran straight over to her father, mother and brother, who had the sword of light firmly on his person, and they once more went into big hug. Sonic moved to be near his own family.

"Little Bean!" Max said. "Of everything that has happened today, seeing you safe and whole again beats everything!"

"Especially after all the hardship we went through in the last year," said Elias.

"Well we definitely need to celebrate!" said Alicia who then turned to the others. "You're all invited to dinner with us at the Royal Estate, that includes your families."

"After all Sonic, your father has also returned in the same way," said Max. "Only seems fitting we celebrate that too." He then turned to Lucian. "You're invited too of course and Charlemagne, I'd say he's the guest of honor."

Lucian looked down dejected. "With all due respect your highness, I don't think my master or myself will be able to attend. I still must see if he's recovered and even if he has, we'll probably be watching over Fiona."

The mood suddenly had gotten less jubilant. "I see, even on the off chance she made a speedy recovery and as much as she helped today given her past inviting her to the Royal Estate would be…inappropriate."

"Nyet!" came a yell from an angry woman at the reception desk. It was a middle-aged vixen with white fur, a red dress and a gold locket being held back by an older rabbit wearing a councilor's uniform with a white beard and moustache, a metallic arm and carrying a cane. "I don't care if you are a Councilor, you von't stand in my vay!"

"Listen here you hussy, that patient is off limits!" replied another vixen with brown fur and wearing a councilor's uniform she was being held back a male fox with brown fur, wearing a military uniform and had a single red cybernetic eye, a leftover from his legionization months ago. "You try to barge in there you'll have to check into this hospital!"

"Try it, I'll show you how ve dealt vith presumptuous snobs back in Boreia!"

"Rosemary, control yourself!" said the Fox with the cybernetic eye.

"Natalia, please!" said the rabbit.

"Uncle Beau?" Bunnie said as she came over.

Tails followed closely after her. "Mom, Dad?"

Rosemary and Amadeus turned to their son as the general let go of his wife.

"Oh Tails, we're glad to have you back," said Rosemary. "Your mother just has to deal with a problem with Beauregard's 'friend' over here before we can catch up."

"Uncle Beau what in the name of Sam Hill is going on here?" asked Bunnie.

Just then a red furred fox wearing a brown bomber jacket came running to the white vixen's side. "Sorry Natalia, the men's room was a little crowded…" His gaze settled firmly on Rosemary and he immediately became exasperated. "Great, just what I needed…"

"Derrick?" asked Bunnie. "Derrick Fox? What are y'all doing where?"

"That's what I want to know!" Rosemary fumed. Even during his parent's attempted coup Tails never seen his mother so furious. "Over twenty years and somehow you still manage to give me a headache!"

"Mind filling in the peanut gallery?" asked Sonic.

Derrick wiped his face. "Right introductions. I'm Derrick Fox, I served under Councilor Rabbot during the Great War and as his Spymaster in the Great Desert chapter of the DEL. This is my wife Natalia, also a former DEL spy in the Great Desert chapter. Natalia, I would like you to meet Rosemary Prower, wife to war hero Amadeus Prower, mother to Freedom Fighter and hero Miles 'Tails' Prower and a member of Council of Acorn." Derrick sighed. "She also happens to be my kid sister."

"Wow Tails," said Amy. "A Neo Walker for one uncle and a spy for another!"

"He forgot to add career criminal to that resume of his," said Rosemary. "Tails honey, I wanted to wait until you were older to tell you this since it hasn't affected you, but our kind, foxes that is, have had a reputation as thieves and charlatans for centuries. A reputation my side of the family seemed to revel in living down to."

"That's no excuse for thinking we weren't good enough for you!" grumbled Derrick.

"You still haven't explained why your wife was trying to get into the princess' hospital room!" Rosemary turned to Sally. "I'm very happy to see you're back with us, but I just hope you weren't another one of my brother's 'henhouses' as the family phrase for a mark goes."

"Nyet," Natalia said sadly. "Ve wanted to see the other patient."

"Buy why would you want to see Fiona of all people?" asked Antoine.

"Wait a minute," said Bunnie, the color starting to drain from her cheeks. "Derrick, your little girl, the one you told me about. She isn't…"

Natalia opened the locket, inside was a picture of a younger Derrick and Natalia. The two of them were holding a three-year-old red furred fox cub with a yellow bow in her hair. The three were all smiling. "Da, Fiona is our malyshka (baby girl)."

Silence reverberated through the waiting room. "Wait a minute," said Tails looking at Derrick aghast. "If Fiona is your daughter and you're my mother's brother than…I had a crush on my cousin!?"

Derrick and Natalia looked they each swallowed a bug. "What!?"

"In his defense," said Sonic. "He first fell in love with an auto-automaton made to look like her, then I started dating the real one to keep his heart from getting crushed, only for it to happen anyway when she turned traitor and… I just made it sound ten times worse."

Tails sank to his knees. "It's a good thing I'm in a hospital, because I think I'm going to be sick."

* * *

Two hundred years later, Silver strolled out of an alleyway. He looked around, it was more advanced and had new buildings, but it was still Freedom City. The thing that got to him the most was the people, no one was hiding, starving or otherwise fighting for survival.

"YES!" he shouted out which attracted the attention of the crowd, but he didn't care.

Silver saw a terminal marked "public information" and tapped its screen. "Please state your request," the terminal said with a chipper voice.

"I'd like to have the address of Edmund the Echidna or Mammoth Mogul."

"Error: unable to read citizen id chip," the terminal replied. "Request denied, please try again later."

"Citizen id chip? Where do I get one of those?"

"Error: unable to read citizen id chip. Request denied, please try again later."

"Never mind, I'll ask a person for help."

"Thank you for using Imperium Public Information Services. Your queries have been recorded as a matter of public record. For Security, for Destiny, for Eternity."

Silver backed away from the machine. "Ok, that's creepy."

"You halt!" Silver turned expecting a fight but instead saw what looked like two humanoid robots towering over a snake boy. Every other Mobian Silver could see was hurrying away and doing their best to avoid looking at the scene. One robot snatched an old book from the snake's hand and flipped through it in seconds. "Contraband, confirmed. You have been found in possession of subversive material, a class B criminal act."

"Ssssssssubversssssssive?" hissed the snake. "I didn't know, I jussssssst picked it up next to that crumbling old library, I didn't even read it."

"Initiating scan," said the second bot. "Bio-scans indicate a truthful testimony. Citizen id chip confirmed, GPS functional. Eric Rattler, Age: nine, Occupation: student, Familial background check: third great aunt twice removed convicted of a class C criminal act. Recommended protocol: apprehend for further questioning."

The bots picked up the snake. "Quesssssstioning? But my parentssssssss are expecting me for dinner!"

"Hey put him down!" yelled Silver. "You're arresting a kid for having a book he didn't read because some relative he almost definitely never met committed a different crime?!"

"This doesn't concern you citizen," said the robot. "Move along."

"Sorry, but bullies messing with kids is my concern! He even co-operated and told you the truth so there's nothing to question! You're taking this too far!"

"Pleassssssssse!" said the snake boy. "I'll never pick up sssssstrange books again!"

"Re-evaluating," said the first bot. "Standby."

{You're putting yourself in danger Silver.} Silver heard an unfamiliar voice echo in his mind. {Get out of there now and don't say anything to me, think it!}

"_How'd you know my name? Whatever, I'm not leaving this kid in the hands of these metal goons, whoever you are,"_ Silver thought.

"Re-evaluation complete," said the robot. "Legacy statute applicable." The bot put the snake down. "You have been issued your first warning, you will not be given another."

The snake boy started to slither away but turned to Silver. "Thanksssss Missster."

Silver crossed his arms. "I hope you bots learned a valuable lesson in…"

"Initiating scan," said the bots said.

"Wait what?"

{You just had to go and play the hero! When I tell you close your eyes, then get ready to run like Sonic!}

"Citizen id chip absent, a class A criminal act." The bot droned.

"But I just got here," said Silver. "I haven't had the time to get a citizen whatever!"

"Logical error, citizen id chips are required by law to be implanted at birth. Absence of chip indicates you either illegally removed your chip or required implantation at birth was not performed."

"Ok, the second one."

{Please just shut up!}.

"_I am not having an argument with a mystery voice in my head!"_

{Whatever, just be ready to close your eyes and run!}

"Confession recorded," droned the bot. "Failure to report absence of chip after age eight is condoning the original criminal act. You have been found guilty of a class A felony. Surrender peacefully or use of force will be authorized!"

"You won't be the first bots I've scrapped!" Silver began to levitate.

"Chaos energies detected, verbal threat recorded. Criminal offense upgraded to class S, protocol: termination!" The bot's arms changed to guns and charged up.

{Close them now!}

Silver saw a small ball roll at his feet, closing his eyes just fast enough to avoid being blinded by the light it flashed. He heard the bots clank down into a heap.

"We don't have much time!" he heard the voice, now not in his head, as a hand grabbed his wrist. "They'll reboot in a minute, run!"

Silver levitated as he opened his eyes to see he was being pulled by a gold colored girl who looked very similar to a hedgehog with long golden hair and blue eyes with blue markings along the edge. She wore a brown colored sari with blue and gold markings along the edges, a tuff of light gold fur on her chest peeked from behind her sari. Her most notable feature was a yellow marking on her forehead that looked like an incomplete circle with a dot in the middle that reminded Silver of the markings on his hands.

"Who are you?" Silver asked.

{Hang on a second.} She brought Silver into an alley, her head marking glowed and she touched Silver's forehead.

{There, I linked our minds together. Now you can speak to me with telepathy, it should be faster than the way we have been talking, we can keep it up if we must separate and most importantly no one can listen in on the link, the Imperium has eyes and ears everywhere. Now we got to move!}

The two began heading down the alleyways, Silver tried to use the mental link. {Ok, this is cool. But who are you?"}

{The short answer is Gold the Tenrec, as for the rest I can tell you once we get to home base. Edmund sent me to bring you back there.}

{Then I must have gotten it wrong again, Sally wasn't the traitor.}

{No, your mission was successful, but there was someone behind the scenes, someone who can manipulate time itself. While you prevented the destruction Mecha Sally would have ultimately caused this interloper then created their own future in its place, one where the Mobius Imperium has nearly conquered the whole galaxy. Mobius went from a world that was dying to one that is now considered to be the source of all evil in the universe.}

{And how do you know this? I have problems keeping my own memories straight when history is changed. Come to think of it usually my memories should have adjusted by now, what's wrong?}

{First off, I'm primarily a telepath. I can read minds, send people thoughts and images, influence their thoughts on a limited basis, teleport short distances and use telekinesis on small objects. I was able to psychically make my mind tamper-proof, unless a change in history has a direct effect on me, I can remember previous timelines. I'll do the same to you once we reach home base and introduce you to the Final Freedom Fighters.}

{Final Freedom Fighters?}

{I'll explain later. As for your memoires I think our Interloper is to blame, whoever he or she is doesn't seem to use typical time travel. Master Mogul and I can remember the last timeline because of my Memory Ward, but I won't risk using it too much or we might attract our opponent's attention.}

Suddenly monitors throughout the city turned on. Gold had a look of disgust on her face. {And here's the Superior Council to give the people their daily dose of propaganda. We should have a clear opening while it's going.}

The monitors shown an image of a Mobian masked and shadowed in such a way as to make telling their species and gender impossible. "People of Mobius," the figure said in a distorted voice. "Tomorrow marks the thousand-year anniversary of when Mobians had finally thrown off the oppressive yolk of humanity that had enslaved us for centuries…"

{No way that's right.} Silver thought to Gold. {Two hundred years ago humans had only come out of hiding recently, sure there were wars between Mobians and Overlanders but we were never totally enslaved by them except for Robotnick and that only lasted a decade.}

{The Imperium writes all the history books. In a way it's worse than having to scavenge what you can from the ruins, they left just enough truth to make picking it apart from the lies almost impossible.}

{Master Mogul was there though, he should be able to remember something thanks to you.}

{There's a problem with that, Master's power is on its last legs, he's dying. It might even already be too late.}

"…and with the annexation of Vactalon the Imperium has now secured peace for over 98% of the galaxy. Most importantly chaos spire seven in the Gargantua sector will be operational for tomorrow's festivities."

Gold stopped in her tracks. {No! Now they only need to get our Chaos Emerald to carry out whatever their real objective is! They'll be focusing all their efforts on finding home base now! We must get underground before the broadcast is finished!}

"And that is the state of affairs in the Imperium, galactic peace will soon be assured forever. For Security, For Destiny, For Eternity!"

Silver and Gold crossed into an area that was marked for demolition. {We're almost there. Silver, we just have to…}

The thought was interrupted by a shadow that blocked out the sun above them. They turned to see a Mobian Bat swooping down. The bat was defiantly male but the black helmet and jumpsuit he wore made finding anything else about him impossible. The bat landed in front of the path they were on and started walking toward them menacingly taking some sort of dart from his belt.

Gold froze in horror. {A rectifier! The most elite Imperium soldier feared across hundreds of worlds! We got to double back and…}

Once they turned around another rectifier, a female hedgehog, came around a corner blocking their path. She took out a tube from her belt that extended into a staff and begun to spin it around like a Kung Fu master.

Silver began to levitate some debris nearby him. {Ok, Gold if we work together, we can take them down.}

{With one rectifier we might have stood a chance to escape, two it's going to take a miracle!}

A nearby wall crumbled, a burly male echidna rectifier stepped through. His fists then lit up with a pair of energy blades appearing inches from his knuckles.

{Let me guess,} thought Silver. {Three there's no point?!}

The elite soldiers moved closer. "Preparing to rectify."

* * *

Meanwhile back in 3238 P.X.E. The freedom fighters were sitting across from Derrick and Natalia Fox in the hospital waiting room. Sally looked at them somberly. "I won't mince words, despite what she did for me Fiona is in a whole lot of trouble. If you want there to be leniency for your daughter, then it would help if you told us your side of the story."

"She felt everyone abandoned her," said Sonic. "Including the two of you and that's making me ask, where were you?"

Derrick took a deep breath. "I guess we better start when the two of us first met. Rosemary is right, I was a thief and conman by trade. I always had this knack for reading people and I used it to figure out their defenses, either in their thinking or how they guarded their valuables. But I still wanted the big score, one that would set me up for life. So, I planned to steal this huge diamond from Don Fang."

"Who?" asked Sally.

"Before the Great War he was pretty much the name in organized crime on Mobius, thought it would give me some security, a big crook like that wouldn't admit he was robbed himself. I was just at the diamond when I ran into this beautiful snowflake that had the same idea I did."

"My specialty is electronics," said Natalia. "Alarms, Security Cameras, I can rework or shutdown any of them. That diamond vas supposed to set me up for a new life after leaving Boreia, a very cold land east of Mercia. Ve started to argue over whose diamond it vas and ended up making more noise than any thief should."

"It was then that Don Fang came out in his pajamas with his wife, her hair in curlers and holding a pair of screaming weasel babies."

"I don't vhink he liked his children that much, who names their twins Nic and Nack?"

Sonic shifted in his seat. "We ran across both of them, sounds like the apples didn't fall that far from the tree."

Derrick laughed. "Anyway, Don Fang starts asking what was going on, we each said the other was trying to steal the diamond then he took out a tommy gun and tried to shoot both of us."

"He might have done it if his wife didn't start yelling at him about the gun scarink her babies," said Natalia. "Ve continued our argument while ve made our escape and ve each felt the other owed us help on future heists."

"A few months later and we were before a judge."

"Like I knew you'd be someday," huffed Rosemary.

Derrick shot his sister an annoyed glance. "Getting married, we made such a good team we each decided if we wanted to live the good life, we wanted it to be together. We ran a few more jobs and schemes but then a couple of things happened to us. The first was us getting caught as the Great War kicked off and forced into military service as a sentence, more importantly Fiona was born."

"Before we vanted to have lives of ease and luxury vith each other, but once ve saw her she became everythink for us, ve just wanted to give her the vorld."

"At least we did until I spied on Jedidiah and Suzanne Rabbot. I couldn't wrap my head around it at first, they were loaded but they risked everything to betray us all just to get back at the royal family over something that happened generations ago. I thought they were just plain nuts, until I saw how they were with you Bunnie. They loved you so much, but I saw they wanted to pass their bad values on to you. When the whole mess was over it made me revaluate my priorities as a father. I was trying to get my family to live the good life when the three of us together WAS the good life. Natalia and I talked things over after that."

"Ve vanted nothink but the best for Fiona, but ve never thought about what the best really vas before, I became convinced that Fiona needed more than things to have a happy life, so once Derrick's tour vas over ve gave up our lives of crime. I started working to repair things instead of short circuit them and Derrick became a bartender, it vasn't glamorous but it vas enough to get Fiona into preschool. She vas so timid back then, afraid that if she vas avay from us for too long she'd never see us again. So, I gave her a yellow ribbon I had, tied a bow into her hair and told her it vas magik, that as long as she wore it ve would always be able to find her."

"She still wore it," said Sonic. "Even when she ditched us for Scourge and went into the whole bad girl look, she still kept that bow. She probably would have just told us that it was to remind herself that 'you can't count on anyone' but maybe deep down she was still hoping you'd find her. So, I must ask again, where were you?"

The two foxes began to cry. Derrick looked at Rosemary. "When the war ended, I felt we needed more stability than we had, I heard that by then you were married and were expecting your own baby. We were planning on moving to Mobotropolis and even if we never got rich, Fiona have enough family to support her, but that never happened."

"Robotnick," growled Sally.

"That day we were at work and Fiona was at preschool, we didn't know when we dropped her off that morning that we wouldn't see her again for thirteen years. The bots rounded up the whole town, Fiona and a few kids were sent off to we didn't know where but for me, Natalia and everyone else, straight into the roboticizer."

"I vas assigned maintenance work for Robotnick's operations over in Boreia," said Natalia. "Derrick I found later vas sent to mine ore in some Source forsaken pit. That vas all ve really knew or did for ten years. After I got my free vill back I thought I had lost everythink, my husband and daughter vere gone and even if by some miracle she vasn't like me, if she vould see me she'd only see one of the monsters that tore her innocence apart. I…left myself to rust avay in the snow, until my love rescued me."

"I only knew she was in Boreia but I had to get her back, it didn't matter to me if we were both machines. Once we were together again, we tried to find out what happened to Fiona and after the Bem de-robticized us we swore we'd get our little girl back. But Boreia was particularly harsh to former Robians, with nowhere else to turn I went to my old CO Colonel Rabbot."

"And that in turn led you to joining the Dark Egg Legion with me," sighed Beauregard.

"In order to spy on the Sand Blasters, we were loaned enough money to start up a business in Sand Blast City, the Mirage Saloon & Ice Cream Parlor. Not only did we get good info from drunk Sand Blasters but in time we started turning a profit. Through it all we kept an ear out for Fiona and at long last our hard work paid off, but then we made our worst decision ever."

Natalia began sobbing. "Ve learned Fiona became a Freedom Fighter, ve vere so proud but thought if it came out that her parents vere vorking for Doktor Eggman, you'd throw her out. So ve kept silent, swept up any trail that could lead back to us and prayed we'd never met again. But then, ve found out she ran off with that podonok (scumbag) Scourge! It just kept getting vorse after that, she vas hated by everyone and I knew if ve had at least let her know her parents vere alive and still loved her… she vouldn't have ruined her life!"

"Nothing mattered to us after that, who would win the war, whatever punishment we could face, nothing. Even when following orders for the DEL we were just going through the motions. When Bunnie came to be legionized, I felt I could at least do something for her that I was never able to do for my own daughter, but I almost destroyed your own relationship with the two people who were more of a mother and father to you than anyone!"

"Y'all…" Bunnie began. "Y'all was just trying to tell me the truth, ah was the one who got madder than a hornet's nest."

"Da thank you," said Natalie. "At first, I just did my duty and ran the saloon, but one day Fiona just valked in off the street. I almost didn't recognize her but once I saw that bow…it vas like that old yellow ribbon really did have magik and it brought my malyshka back to me! She collapsed from shock and thirst, I gave her vater and Derrick came home before she voke up."

"She was suspicious of us at first, but we gave her a place to hide," said Derrick. "And with some fur and hair dye and a pair of contact lenses, Sue de Nimh was our new waitress. In time we opened to her and she opened to us. First, she thought about the three of us pulling heists again, but we put a stop to that by saying how proud we were when she was a Freedom Fighter, that was the real turning point. She began to be less like the criminal she was and more like the little girl we remembered. But then came our second biggest mistake, my legionization gave me a cybernetic ear, but it started going on the fritz and instead doing the smart thing and have Mrs. Rabbot fix it Natalia and I thought she could do it in the saloon after dark. So, there we were, my left ear detached and Natalia jabbing at the place where it was with a screwdriver when Fiona came downstairs and caught us red handed."

"She vas furious!" cried Natalia. "Said ve sold out for all intents and purposes to the same man who ripped our family apart to begin vith! She thought the whole vorld was out to get her and…she vished she never got out of that horrible cell! Ve couldn't lose her again so ve told her ve'd go with her, abandon the DEL and live a life thievery once more as a family. But ve vere so desperate we forgot, the cherry bombs inside us, they vent off."

It seemed everyone gasped in terror. "How did any of you survive?" asked Amadeus.

"Because of me," said Lucian. Everyone turned to him in surprise. "Master Charlemagne sensed a great magical potential there and sent me to find it. My future vision saw what was going to happen and I rushed in and conjured a wall of ice between Fiona and her parents before the bombs went off. Once she got over the shock, she rushed over to the two of you and began to take back everything she said. Master popped in then and said she could save you both, he awakened her latent power and almost on instinct she began healing their wounds. Master had to give her extra power exhausting himself again, but she was able to save them, but only what was still organic."

"We hugged for what felt like hours," said Derrick. "But we had to get back to the settlement to get replacement parts, preferably without explosives this time. Lulumae fixed us up but Eggman paid us a visit and the next thing we knew…"

"The whole chapter was brainboxed," said Bunnie. "Including me."

"Fiona joined me and Master after that," said Lucian. "She said actually feeling the earth through her magic gave her a peace she had never known before, but she wanted to find you both again and free you from Eggman's control."

"Vell we vere," said Natalia. "By a Monkey Khan over in the Dragon Kingdom. Then after scraping enough money together ve came to Freedom City to start the search over and, vell you know the rest."

"King Elias, I beg you," said Derrick. "We just want to be a family again. If you and the council can find it in your hearts to pardon her crimes, we will take full responsibility for anything else she does."

Elias sighed. "I may have the final say, but I have to trust Sally's judgement on this. She has more experience with Fiona than the rest of us."

"Before I was roboticized I would have said 'lock her up and throw away the key'," said Sally. "But I've now been where she was, if I did that and let my own actions go unpunished, I'd be a hypocrite. At the same time however I must put the Republic's safety first so I can't let her go without hearing her defense in her own words. I must know if she's truly repentant, how far she's willing to go to make amends. My recommendation is to have her monitored once she has recovered until a full trial can take place. She'll have to wear a tracking anklet and let us know where she is at all times, she also can't leave Freedom City until then."

"I have my own conditions," said Rosemary.

"Mom! She's family!" said Tails. "I know she hurt me, but you don't just give up on family! There were plenty of good reasons for me to be mad at her, but not for not loving me, I want us to apologize to each other and let the hurting finally stop."

Rosemary surprisingly smiled at her son. "Tails, you were lucky. If it weren't for Rosie and Julayla you might have ended up like Fiona or so many other children who grew up doing something desperate to survive what no child should have gone through. That was the most important reason why the council gave amnesty to former legionnaires and I think Fiona is no less deserving of the same chance."

Rosemary then turned to her brother and his wife. "My conditions however are about the two of you being responsible for Fiona until the trial. Your story tells me you've changed Derrick, so I'm willing to give you both the same chance, but like every former legionnaire you must earn reconciliation. You'll have to take up residence in the city while she's being monitored and you'll both need to find jobs, REAL JOBS, so you can support her until a decision is made."

"Ve could open another ice cream parlor," said Natalia. "Since the last one got blown up."

"And until you can get a place of your own…" Rosemary sighed. "I suppose you could stay with us."

"The rest will have to be handled by the court," said Elias. "But until then, just go and be with your daughter. Who knows, it just might be the thing she needs to wake up."

The two foxes got up tears in their eyes. "Thank your majesty, I promise Fiona will make up for everything if we have to drag her kicking and screaming to do it."

"Come Darlink," said Natalia. "Our Malyshka is waiting!"

The two ran off to Fiona's room.

"Your Majesty, Councilors!" shouted a guard. "An emergency session of the council's been called! You all have to get to the Rotunda at once!"

"That's impossible!" said Bernadette. "Only King Elias can call an emergency session!"

"That's not technically correct ma'am. The Interim King does have the power, but this session was called by the sitting king's selected regent. Geoffrey St. John, he's returned."

Sonic groaned. "We saved Sally, unleashed a new Robotnick, dealt with wizards, got all touchy feely about a possibly repentant traitor and now Stinky is back, haven't we had enough drama for one day?"

* * *

In the year 3438 P.X.E. Silver and Gold stood back to back against the three rectifiers. {I've failed,} thought Gold. {They usually send a squad of three to take on armies!}

{You said you have some mind control power,} Silver thought as he sent the debris to the hedgehog rectifier who deflected each projectile with her staff. {Can't you get them to stop or attack each other or something?}

Gold levitated some small stone towards the other two who didn't even slow down. {I can only make people do small things like push a button or look away, and even if I could do more rectifiers are trained to resist psychic influences! It's hopeless!}

{We can't give up! My future was just saved from destruction, I won't abandon it to some tyrants!}

The Rectifiers then rushed into attack, suddenly they twitched as they were each struck by some sort of static pulse and fell to the ground. Silver saw an old human woman with thick glasses and white hair pulled into a bun holding a rifle with a tesla coil for a barrel that was smoking along the whole line of the weapon.

"Dr. L!" shouted Gold.

"Hurry!" The woman said throwing the rifle to the ground. "Their nervous systems will shake it off in a couple of minutes, this piece of junk just gave up the ghost and more rectifiers are on their way!" The old woman kicked a nearby wall and a secret door appeared. "Get in now! If we're lucky it might take them a bit to find our exact location."

Gold and Silver followed Dr. L into the tunnel, the door closed right behind them. "Thanks," said Silver. "So, who are you?"

The old woman gave a grim laugh. "Well as Gold here said I go by Dr. L but the precise answer? You're looking at the last human being in the entire universe, pretty good since to the average Imperium citizen we've been extinct for centuries."

Silver growled. "Doctor Eggman was taken out for good, Mobius was at peace, how could this have happened?!"

"If you want what answers we can give just pay attention, we're here." The three came into a moldering room with computer banks, old books and a small armory, along one wall was some very old memorabilia and pictures of people Silver knew as Freedom Fighters. "Welcome to the home base of the Final Freedom Fighters."

"Why Final?" Silver asked with a chill. "Isn't there any other opposition to the Imperium left?"

"Not on this planet, for generations now Mobians just took the Imperium having absolute control as a fact of life. On other planets, the Imperium's drones have them so overwhelmed the only practical form of resistance is hiding."

"If we fail," said Gold. "Then freedom for this world and every other in the galaxy will die forever."

A red human sized robot with a pair of metallic wings and a single visor like eye came in front of them. It had a faded emblem on its chest of a black gear with metal dragon wings and a lightning bolt through the hole in the middle. "Gold, Dr. L, I see your mission has been successful."

"This is Red Knight," said Dr. L. "One of Viktor Robotnik's creations that we repurposed to aide us."

"Viktor Robotnik?" asked Silver.

"He should have just started his own plots when you left," said Red Knight. "You haven't heard of him?"

"I…was too anxious to get back home to ask Sonic or the others what was up, I'm starting to regret it."

"No time for regrets Silver," said an old bearded Echidna who hobbled in on a cane. "You both have a lot of work to do."

"Edmund!" Silver gave a big hug to the centennial Echidna. "I've never been so happy to see you sourpuss!"

"Well I see your tendency to rush in hasn't changed, maybe combined with Gold's caution to the point of timidity you can even each other out a bit. Not that the advice of someone who never fulfilled his dream of being a guardian can help you."

"The Imperium must have screwed things over more than I thought," said Silver. "You considered yourself a guardian, if a failed one."

"In those timelines, you knew who your parents were Edmund," said Gold. "That's what I remember at least. I'd like to do the same to Silver, but first how about Master Mogul?" asked Gold. "Is he?"

"He's alive, but I don't think he'll be that way for long. The sad sack of lies…wanted to see both of you as soon as possible."

"Whatever he has to say he better say it fast," said Doctor L. "We'll have rectifiers beating down our door within the hour."

"I'll buy you time," said Red Knight as the robot moved to the door, His left arm extended a shield and his right changed shape to become a lance.

"No, we need you to protect Mogul and the Chronos Gate. We have a few automated defenses left, you're better off as our last line."

"This way," gestured Edmund.

Silver and Gold were led through a curtain to another room, along one wall was a strange gate looking device on the other was the aged form of Master Mogul. Mogul used has trunk to cover a cough. "Gold, Silver, you came back for however short a time we have."

Sliver sat down before Mammoth. "Master, Gold filled me in on the important parts, I succeeded but it doesn't mean anything if the Imperium wins!"

"To think after so many false leads and accusations, your success fell apart because of one interloper who uses time as if it was its own personal plaything."

"Tell me who this interloper is, I'll make them regret ever messing with our home!"

"My…memory is no longer clear on anything but my own actions. I…might have even helped the interloper I can't recall. But there is one hope left. We don't have a who, but we do have a what. We know what the true birth of the Mobius Imperium was, during the very year you left."

Mammoth turned on a display. Old video footage shown Princess Sally crying as she cradled Sonic. The hero had a twisted, sharp piece of black metal piercing his heart.

"Sonic," Sally cried from the video. "No. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Sally's shrieks of mourning were silenced when the video was turned off. "We have no context for this image," Mammoth said. "It might have been her grief that turned the Freedom Fighter into the mother of the world's woes, or she was innocent, and it was simply his absence that allowed another tyrant to take power. Whatever the case the Imperium was born the day when Sonic the Hedgehog died."

"So, I don't need to find a traitor or interloper or whatever," said Silver. "I just have to keep Sonic alive through whatever this creep did or stop it from happening and the Imperium will never exist!"

"Now you are thinking like a Knight of Chronos."

Silver rose to his feet. "I'm ready for you to send me back!"

"Alas, I no longer have the ability to do so."

"Then if you really think I am a Knight of Chronos now, give me a time stone and I'll use Chronos Control myself!"

"That is not possible either, the Imperium controls all the time stones. But we do have one final option, the Chronos Gate." Mogul pointed to the device on the opposite side of the room. "We just have to power it with the Chaos Emerald we have, and you can use it to go back to the very day you left."

"What are we waiting for let's fire this puppy up!"

"First there are still things you must know. To understand them, Gold attune and protect his memories."

Gold held her hand before Silver as the marking on her head glowed tears started messing with her eye markings. "Gold, why are you crying?"

"Not everything you'll now remember will be good, but despite that these are tears of joy."

Gold touched Silver's forehead as memories flooded his mind. A second later looked to Gold with a new feeling of warmth and familiarity.

Gold wiped away her tears with a smile. "Welcome back, brother!"

"You, you're my twin sister." Silver and Gold hugged each other fiercely. "I HAVE A SISTER!"

"A sister who will go with you on this task," said Mogul. "But there is one catch to the Chronos Gate and now you can remember when this century was ravaged by Iblis you know what that is."

"I remember now," said Silver. "We were found among the ruins along with Blaze when the three of us were babies. Master Mogul trained us to stop the Iblis Trigger and Gold was sent first."

"I tried to use Chronos Control, but something went wrong," said Gold. "I ended up in another zone in our present. It took me months, but I found a way back only to find history was changed twice over, you were off in the past and Blaze, my best friend was gone."

"She erased herself to seal Iblis…But Solaris was erased from time…and Blaze is alive!"

"What?!" Gold gasped tears of joy flowing again.

"She ended up in the Sol Dimension, she was a princess there and a high priestess, but we didn't remember each other. Her kingdom is now part of Mobius Prime, she's back in this zone in the past!"

"And for your task you'll have to recruit her to your cause," said Mammoth. "But now you understand what became of her you also understand the price the Chonos Gate requires for its toll. Blaze was cut off from this timeline and zone, her fate was permanently attached first to the past of the Sol Zone and now the past of this zone and the same will be true of you both. The gate is a one-way ticket, once you pass through you might be able to come back to this time but you will forever be anchored to that one and must return, the only permanent way to go to the future by making it become the present."

"But this was the only home we've ever had!" said Gold. "It was never a good home, but at least we had each other."

"It's ok Gold," said Silver. "The Freedom Fighters and other people there will embrace us, we'll just have to build our own futures now."

"There is one other task for the three of you," Mogul sighed. "I have…

Suddenly the whole room shook, as seconds later Edmund came in. "The rectifiers have found us! They've broken through the first line!"

"How many?" Gold asked shaking.

"From what we can tell, all of them and that's just the tip of the iceberg. The big cheese is here, Superior Prime!"

Gold looked down in despair. "No one knows who he or she is, just that it's the title of the leader of the Superior Council and by extension the Mobius Imperium."

"Then I must give you your instructions through telepathy, as well as the final truth I must give you." said Mogul he grabbed both Silver and Gold's heads has his hands glowed. "As I told you once before Silver, I have made mistakes, some of them grave, but there is one that while I can't say I regret for the good that came out of it, it is the only one I am ashamed of. I am sad to say it will be done soon after you arrive, the Interloper will probably try to stop it to foil the three of you, but It must happen or else everything you have done to save this future will be undone."

Mogul let go of Silver and Gold, the Hedgehog and Tenrec looked at their hands anxiously. Silver then turned to the former wizard and crime boss with anger burning in his eyes. "That, that is our true origin!? You expect us to tell Blaze that!? You expect us to sit back and JUST LET IT HAPPEN?!"

"Mammoth what have you done!?" growled Edmund. Home base shook again.

"I do not expect forgiveness," said Mogul. "Only understanding about why this tragedy must happen despite the pain it will cause the good that resulted far outweighs it."

Gold snarled. "There was no way for you to have known that you, YOU MONSTER!"

"You were the closest thing the three of us had to a father." Silver said with contempt. "But now, I don't want to have anything to do with you! Fine, we'll play along but once it's over and done with, the only future I'll have is one without you. The future I'll share with Gold and Blaze, because for right now they're the only family I have left, all because of you!"

The pain on Mogul's face was clear, but so was resignation. "As long as this world survives, that is all that matters. Even if you don't want it, take my last gift to Mobius. I am proud of you three, the brightest part of a very long life."

Master Mogul pulled the robe off his chest revealing the white Chaos Emerald. He placed his hand on the gem and with all his might pulled until it became free and the moment it was Mammoth Mogul had taken his last breath.

Edmund took the gem from Mogul's dead hand. "I'll use this to power the Chronos Gate, it should only take a few seconds…"

A large explosion rocked the base, suddenly Dr. L came in from the next room. "The last line has been breached! They're coming!"

Red Knight blocked the doorway with its body. "They won't get past me! Hurry! The echidna female leading the rectifier charge won't see this coming."

Once the emerald was attached to the Gate Edmund stood beside Red Knight. "Wait, people say that the last guardian was made into one of the first rectifiers centuries ago. A lie, but one I want to avenge."

"This is foolish, you'll just get yourself killed proving nothing."

"Listen to him Edmund!" Silver yelled.

"Blast it!" said Dr. L as she took over operating the Chronos Gate. "I spent years putting this thing together, guess I'll have to give it my blood too."

"Please Silver," The old echidna turned with a pleading look. "Just this once, let me be a guardian."

"Done, it's powering up!"

The Chronos gate shone the light of the white emerald as the portal opened.

Red Knight was thrown against the wall by a female echidna rectifier with spiked knuckles. Its shield was heavily dented, the lance snapped in half and the visor eye shattered.

Edmund charged the female echidna. "For Angel Island!"

The rectifier uppercut the elderly echidna with an electrically charged punch that threw him against the ceiling, when he landed there was blood on the ceiling and floor. The masked echidna looked down on the elder.

"Rectified."

Silver cried out in rage. "Murderer!"

"This is your only chance!" yelled Dr. L. "Go now!"

{Brother,} Silver felt Gold's hand against his shoulder. {It's time to go.}

With a growl Silver took Gold's hand and the two leapt through the Chronos Gate, the next second the gate closed behind them.

* * *

The sun was starting to set when the portal opened in the year 3238 P.X.E. Gold and Silver landed in a heap on the roof of King Fredrick Memorial Hospital. Silver got up and looked around. "This is where I left this time, though I guess it's our time now."

Gold looked over the city. "A lot of it looks the same, but it doesn't feel like Imperium Center."

Silver stood next to the twin he only moments ago realized he had, but now remembered fondly. "Because that's not its name now, this is Freedom City."

Gold nodded. "Then we have to keep it that way. First order of business is finding Sonic so we can keep an eye on him, then we have to find Blaze and wait for the right moment to recruit her."

"Sonic has to know, he'll probably doubt me and get mad that we have to babysit him, but I'm used to him not liking me by now."

"Time's going to be against us, we only have till the end of the year to stop whoever this interloper is."

"We better get started then."

The two moved downstairs and found themselves passing the same hallway Silver met Sonic at earlier.

"Mom! Dad!"

Silver turned and looked through the window in the door he heard the yell coming from. Inside a trio of foxes were hugging.

"Fiona!" the only male in the room said.

"My Malyshka!" the white furred female said.

Fiona was bawling her eyes out. "You came for me, you really came for me!"

"It's alright, Fiona," her father said. "You can get a second chance, we can start over again, as a family."

Fiona continued to cry. "Oh Daddy. For the first time in so very long, I feel like the future's bright."

Silver clenched his fist. _"No, it isn't bright at all. But it will be if we have anything to say about it!"_


	6. That Old Black Magic

Chapter 11

Operation: Free Skies

The alarm Sonic set had him up before the sun, after making himself a quick breakfast he came to the bridge and found Sally alone in the command chair.

"You know we're just going in a straight line at this point," he said to the princess. "You don't have to be up here when you could be getting some extra shuteye."

Sally turned around surprised. "Oh, sorry I couldn't sleep. I kept thinking 'this is it' either we fail to stop Robotnick's plan to use the gene bombs to devolve his enemies to the point where they'd be unable to stop him from taking over Mobius or we succeed and then what the council thought would come true, there wouldn't be a need for Freedom Fighters anymore. Whatever happens this could easily be our last mission together."

"There's still Masquerade and his pick-a-card club to deal with."

"True but it might be Knuckles and the Chaotix or Team Dark or any of the other Freedom Fighter divisions who end up dealing with them and even if we end up facing them we'd just end up right back here, peace within our grasp but if we get it there wouldn't be a reason for the Freedom Fighters to exist. It's what we all dreamed and strived for most or all our lives but now we could have it I find I don't really know what to do with myself. When we started, I thought It would just be my responsibility to take the throne, but now Father is healthy again and with Elias fathering his own child it doesn't seem to be my responsibility anymore."

"But is being queen what you really want?"

"For a long time, I just took it for granted, that was the path by birth laid out for me. But after being betrayed so often my father wanted to make sure I was the best ruler possible and…"

"He took it too far and acted like a jerk to everyone in the process."

"He and mother apologized to me for his behavior and her inaction a couple of days back, but the doubts I had about having the Source of All choosing who my husband would be began to make me wonder about what I wanted. Then after Eggman used the Phantom Ruby on me I tried to make my perfect world, justifying things I never would have before only to end up getting fooled and betrayed like my father and brother were."

Sonic hugged her. "You made a mistake and you learned from it. We always knew you'd be a great queen."

"If I must be I will but after that, just being born into a traditionally good family is no guarantee of goodness and I want to give future generations the best chance to stay free. I've come to think that in time I'd like the royal family's duties to be mostly ceremonial. As for me, I think even if there isn't a battle to be won, I'd still want to help people with all of you, especially you Sonic. You're worth keeping up with and that isn't just this new soultouch talking."

"I'd…like that too, and you're worth sticking around for even if you become Queen no matter what the Source would have said."

Sally giggled. "You as King. There are a lot of people, some including close friends, who just can't imagine it."

"Well whatever you end up choosing I'd like us to stay together for it." Sonic took a deep breath, he felt like now was the right time. He decided to start with a kiss…

As he leaned in, he found Sally had fallen fast asleep. After chuckling to himself he quickly ran out of the bridge and a second later came back in with a blanket. He draped the it over the princess and then looked out the viewport. _"I guess it's better to wait until after we win."_ He thought to himself. _"No more delays or denials, I'm going to ask what I should have a long time ago."_

* * *

The Sun had just started to rise as Vanilla took Chocola with her on a stroll through the flower gardens of New Spring Park. Cream had been invited to the accord signing ceremony and could bring a guest but yesterday Cream told her that she had to go with the Freedom Fighters to save Nicole and Hope Kintobor from Robotnick and took Cheese with her. She couldn't help but worry, the last couple of days did nothing but give her reasons to be worried about Cream. First her little girl was hit with a spell that made her not so little anymore, then after an overnight job on their DNA Cream suddenly had a boyfriend and one that, if things stayed the same, would be the father of her grandchildren, and now Cream was going into the Lion's Den.

It wasn't that Cream was doing something dangerous, she'd proven she could handle herself with Cheese by her side, what got to Vanilla most was that was what was now both different and familiar. Though nowhere near as rebellious as she had been in her younger days Vanilla was seeing in her daughter a lot of the young woman she used to be, the one who ended up losing almost everything. Vanilla shook out of her reverie; she was supposed to be clearing her head before she returned home to watch the ceremony on TV. She decided to sniff at the air and take in aroma of the flowers…

Suddenly she felt like she was being pulled away by something familiar, something that had a hint of baked carrots and freshly washed cotton. Chocola was keeping up as she felt herself moving almost without meaning to, he was asking in Chaoese where she was going. "I don't know Chocola," she said. "I feel like I have to…"

She stopped as she saw a ghost who stopped at the same time, yet everything in her was saying he wasn't. A little older but still in the same white shirt, red jacket and blue jeans, the same trusty pugil stick now dropping from his hand, the same ears, the same eyes…

"J-Johnny!?" the words just came out before she noticed a few other familiar faces were running to where they were.

"Hi Nilly," the grey rabbit said dumbfounded. "I'm home."

A pig, canary, black cat and a robian squirrel were coming towards Vanilla. Just as they got there, she gave the buck rabbit a hard slap on the face.

"Vanilla, what the heck?!"

"That was for making me think you were dead!" she then grabbed Johnny's jacket and pulled him close tears in her eyes. "And this is for how much I missed you!" She gave him a deep kiss he returned and once she pulled away and noticed her old friends. "You're all here? But the reactor, the explosion…"

"I remembered an obscure spell at the last second," said Ebony. "It saved us but even when I learned it the counter spell had been lost for ages. We spent the last seven years like ghosts until about a month ago thanks to that energy wave that was set loose when that Super Death Egg Robot went boom."

"We found out you had moved here afterward and decided at the very least we should get our fearless leader back to the missus," said Tekno. "Though I have to say you've changed a lot Nilly but after what happened to us it's understandable."

"So that's why Shortfuse wasn't de-robotized," Vanilla looked at the Robian. "Shorty…"

"It wouldn't have worked on me anyway," said Shortfuse. "I had what I found out was NIDS, so I'd have bit the dust by now if I was changed back. Honestly I like myself better this way."

"But enough about us," said Porker. "Where's Cream? We've seen her grow over the years but not since the Phantom Ruby War."

"Yeah," said Johnny. "I can't wait to for to finally introduce myself to her…"

"Johnny," Vanilla said grasping his hands. "There are somethings about Cream I have to tell you about first. Cream's fine but she went through a few things in the past couple of days you need to know…"

* * *

Geoffrey and Hershey felt sunlight coming through the window, they woke up then knowing it was time to get to work. When they got here yesterday, they found enough preserved food to last a few days but to stay long term they had to become farmers. Now while they like every other Freedom Fighter and refugee that hid during the Robotnick Regime had experience gardening as a matter of survival they still needed to know what they had to work with.

"There's a village nearby where we can buy seeds, almanacs and any tools we might have to replace," said Geoffrey. "But if they find out who we are…"

"Witchcart taught me an illusion spell," said Hershey. "I'll show you how to use it then if we keep our time there brief, we can get what we need without her or Naugus finding us."

"Wonderful, but today we're going to take full stock of the place, see what we have to work with and what kinds of crops we can maintain. I'd like the place where we're going to raise our children to be just perfect."

"Raise our children?" asked Hershey. "I know Mammoth said to start a family, but I don't think he meant it literally, just to live out our lives."

Geoffrey looked sullen. "So, you don't want children?"

"I…don't know. I never actually thought about it before. You want to be a father?"

"When Mammoth said that it made me think. When I was young, I looked up to my father and all I wanted was to be just like him. I thought I lost any chance at that after what I did but maybe if I become a father, at least I can make sure the next St. Johns can live up to the family name. Don't you want to pass a legacy like your mother's?"

"She did inspire me, but I used to think I always let her down." Hershey then smiled. "But following in her footsteps in guiding the next generation, I can't think of a better thing to dedicate myself to. Having a child is going to be a lot of work, but it also sounds so fulfilling and it's not like we have any other responsibilities anymore. Ok, let's do it! I'm not in heat yet but once I am…"

Geoffery gave her a deep kiss. "I promise you once we settle in, I'll make this place the best home our baby could ever have!"

"Our baby, just the words make me feel so… elated."

Geoffery started to head out the door "Then I'll leave you here to think about our baby while I go take stock of the tool shed and check the soil for…"

Before he could finish Geoffrey was shot onto the living room table by a jet of water.

"Geoffery!" Hershey yelled as she checked on her husband.

Geoffery coughed up some water and looked at the door. "How, how did you find our hideout?!"

Lucian stood in the door; his eyes glowing aqua as Amy materialized her hammer behind him. "Your hideout?! IT'S MY HOUSE!"

* * *

Nicole stirred from her sleep, the first actual time she had to do so. Shard had complained a lot about the limitations of these bodies he felt they were trapped in and while she was more accepting of Mobians' physical needs from her time with them she had to admit to Shard that becoming tired and needing to remove waste from her new body were not the most pleasant things. Of course, the whole situation would be more bearable if they weren't locked up onboard the Colossus and the foul-tasting slop their captors gave them as their first meal as Mobians could only be defined as food in broadest possible sense.

"Shard, are you awake?"

The hedgehog with the yellow streak groaned. "Now I am. I don't suppose you figured out a way we can stop Viktor from using those gene bombs from here, have you?"

Nicole sighed. "No, I haven't. If I could access the Robotnick's network I might be able to sabotage those bombs and plant a virus that could wipe any system that would try making these things again, even in this body I could write the program in about half an hour instead of a few seconds."

"And the only thing keeping you from doing so is a physical lock on the door and the certain chance that Viktor had already changed the password on his systems."

"Then I better get you both out while I can," Hope said as she leapt down from a ceiling vent on the other side of the door. "I managed to snag Snively's spare key card from behind a photo he has of Regina, I still can't imagine what she sees in him."

Hope swiped the card opening the door.

"Thanks Hope," Nicole said with a nod. "Still getting to a terminal is going to take some sort of diversion for me to do my work."

The lights on the ship all changed to a dull red, Hope looked surprised. "Why the emergency lighting? I disabled both the alarm and put the cameras in this room on a repeating loop before I came in."

Soon the whole room seemed to shake, just as Phage's voice came over the PA. "All hands general quarters, we are under attack!"

Shard grinned. "I think we have our diversion! Looks like the Freedom Fighters got your message!"

"Then we better get to a terminal so I can code the virus and hope Sonic keeps Viktor busy long enough for us to us it!"

* * *

Up on the bridge of the Colossus Viktor's eyes were already black as he glared at the GUN battleship off their port side. "How did they know where and how to target us?!"

Lilith was looking over the shoulder of one of the robots manning the ship's controls. "They hit the shielding on our port side, shield integrity reduced to seventy-seven percent. My guess they somehow found out how to detect the heat from the engines and adjusted from there."

"My half-sister no doubt," grumbled Snivley.

"Come about and target their bridge and engine room," roared Viktor. "Launch the aviator swats, blow them out of the sky!"

* * *

As the Colossus started to turn Sally allowed herself a smile. "He took the bait! Sonic are you and Shadow ready down there?"

"I'm already revving in place just tell me when to gun it!"

"In that case Tails prepare to get us out there! Antione as soon as we get a clear shot fire the Sonic Power Cannon!"

"Roger!" both the Fox and Coyote said.

"Letter of Gabriel we're moving into position."

"Whatever you're doing make it fast," Amanda Tower said. "We've already took a few hits; we'll have to disengage and make repairs at the nearest base."

"Understood, Tails now!"

The Sky Patrol came out from behind the Letter of Gabriel where they were hidden from the Colossus' radar. As the battleship began to away Tails moved the ship to dodge enemy fire and avoid crashing into the GUN jet fighters returning from their sorties.

Antione had his eyes glued on the display in front of him. "Cible verrouillée… feu! (Target locked…Fire!)"

* * *

The blue projectile spun through air after it was launched from the comparatively diminutive vessel. The ship rocked as it slammed into the Colossus.

"Hangar two has sustained heavy damage!" said Phage. "Repair bots sent and…I am losing contact with the neo swats in the area, repair bots are also blinking out!"

"Get me the security cameras in that hangar!" Viktor bellowed. One of the holographic displays began to show a blue blur slamming into the bots in the area. "Sonic!"

Snivley peaked out from under his station. "But how did he…"

"They're firing again!" yelled Lilith.

A black projectile was shot this time into the hangar and soon a black blur was destroying the hangar interior. "Shadow, does that answer your question Snivley?!"

"They have a gun that fires hedgehogs?!" said Snivley. "I think I want to use my vacation and sick days now…"

"Too late," said Phage. "The Freedom Fighter ship is already heading for that hangar. Due to damage to our weaponry there we'll be unable to keep them from boarding."

"How soon until the gene bombs are in position?!" yelled Victor.

"The first batch will reach their orbital planes in roughly thirty minutes."

"An eternity as far as Sonic is concerned," moaned Lilith.

"He'll try to rescue his little friends first," said Victor. "All hands prepare to repel borders! Get the Neo Metal Series to pursue! Today is the day my Ascendency rises, the day I prove my superiority over both of my predecessors, and I won't let anything stop it especially a hedgehog that just lucked out on the chaos power lottery!"

* * *

The fight was taken outside of the cottage, Geoffrey was using a prolonged gust to try to push back Lucian's stream of water. "We just wanted to be left alone! We weren't going hurt anyone, just disappear and grow old together!"

"And you thought the best place to do it was where I grew up?! Where Master Charlemagne trained me, where he taught me how use Ixis Magik?! More likely you two are trying to steal our secrets for the Order!"

Hershey set the grass at Lucian's feet on fire forcing him to disengage. "This is the only place we can be safe from Naugus and Witchcart! It's more important to us than you!"

"Storming Heart!" Amy shot little pink hearts towards the St. John's who leapt back before the heart landed in small explosions. "You could have asked the Freedom Fighters for help! Despite what you might have done wrong we don't abandon people in need! We beat Naugus before, there's nothing different about this time!"

"There's no way out from the pact!" said Geoffrey as electricity crackled in his hands. "Even if you locked them away it would only be a matter of time until they chased after us again. You won't kill them, and we can't, so this is our only escape!"

Geoffrey sent a bolt of lightning at Lucian, the Tenrec responded by throwing a huge icicle like spear at the skunk. Suddenly a large wall of stone erupted from the ground between them and took both attacks. Everyone turned and spotted the source of the spell.

"Fiona?!" Amy gasped.

Fiona looked like she was crying, but she also had an expression Amy saw her have when she was with Scourge, one that just seethed anger.

"Stop it! This fight is meaningless, the real enemy has been right under our noses the entire time!"

"Fiona, I don't understand," said Lucian. "What enemy?"

"I know what you're getting at," said Geoffrey. "But Hershey and I escaped here, we have nothing to do with this enemy."

"No!" Fiona snarled. "You didn't escape at all, your masters herded you here!"

"But Mammoth gave us this place to embarrass Naugus and Witchcart. As bad as he is, he keeps his word. Since Lord Specter used it as a hideout it's well warded."

"No Master Charlemagne set up the wards," said Lucian. "I don't know how he found out about it, but Mammoth lied to you!"

"You're both right, and both wrong," said Fiona. "The lie is more simple and subtle then that. It was only once I got my memories of my lost time on Moebius with Scourge and pieced them together with my experiences afterward that I realized the truth. A horrible truth that I wish with all my heart wasn't so but one that I can no longer deny after all the trust and forgiveness everyone has given me."

Memories echoed in the vixen's head, fitting together like pieces of a Jigsaw puzzle.

Fiona was keeping an ear out as Mammoth's master was giving him instructions. _"Remember Master Mogul above all else the vixen who betrayed the Freedom Fighters must be brought back unharmed. She has a great destiny to play in the Grand Design."_

After she brought her parents back from the brink of death with her newfound power the Overlander gave a tired smile. _"Your whole life, your suffering, your crimes, your friendships, and your betrayals were all for a purpose. You have a great destiny ahead of you and it's time to take the next step and become the Ixis Witch you were always meant to be."_

"_Don't worry about what happens to her after tomorrow Mogul, she will fill out the Grand Design out of the desires of her own heart."_

She was asked out of the blue to cure the one person who once had everything she was denied, someone she once hated with a passion. She didn't just feel unready but unworthy, but he just gave her that same tired smile. _"You don't give yourself enough credit and more importantly much as the princess needs to be restored you know in your heart you need just as badly to be the one to do it."_

As much as she didn't want to admit it, she couldn't avoid seeing his kindly face, before it was obscured by the mask which proceeded to laugh at her. She knew they all needed to know.

"Master Charlemagne and Lord Specter are one and the same."

"WHAT?!" yelled Lucian. "That's crazy! How can you say that about the man who reopened your closed off heart?! The man who practically raised me, it's disrespectful!"

"Try impossible!" said Hershey. "The day before yesterday we all saw Charlemagne when Lord Specter captured him and took the purple emerald! He can't be in two places at once!"

"Split image," Amy squeaked out. "Master Charlemagne taught me the split image spell, if he needed to be in two places, he could make a copy of himself that would be indistinguishable from the real thing."

Lucian was shocked. "Amy, you believe this claptrap?! I mean she said it herself two days ago, he'd have to know about somethings beforehand like me being on Malada Island to get any of this to work!"

"Like you can from seeing the future?" said Fiona.

"That's different, for me it's an inborn psychic ability and I can only look into the near future, this would need days, weeks, months, heck even years of advance knowledge to pull it off."

"Silver and Gold's interloper," said Amy. "What if somehow Specter is connected the future they are trying to prevent, the one where Mobius is ruled by a totalitarian regime that was out to conquer the galaxy?"

"If he is then he's well on his way," said Fiona. "As soon as he recovered and abdicated, he was named an advisor to the Council and has the overwhelming support of them and the king, he might be able to wield even greater power from behind the throne."

Lucian felt weak in the knees. "This doesn't sound at all like the man who has been like a father to me."

"I don't want to believe it either," said Amy. "But if we want to clear his name, we have to ask about all this."

"Let's say you're right about this and Mammoth lied to me and Hershey and sent us here on Lord Specter's orders," said Geoffrey. "What would Lord Specter have to gain from it?"

"I don't know," sighed Fiona. "But this place isn't as safe as you thought it'd be, the Freedom Fighters are your only hope now."

"Tails thinks he found a way to break the pact each of you have," said Amy. "It means giving up your Ixis Magik, but we found out there's a chance something called Ixis might be able to control you through it so there's another reason to go along. We've been trying not to use our powers unless we have to, but we might not need it once Sonic and the others stop Robotnick for good."

Geoffrey started to growl. "But our magic is our only…"

Hershey but a hand on Geoffrey's shoulder. "Dearest she's right, about staying here at least. If they can find us, then so can Witchcart and Naugus. We have to turn ourselves in."

Geoffrey took Hershey's hand. "But what about our plans, what about the baby we wanted to have?"

"Elias offered to consider exile as a punishment for you rather than prison so we can be together, I wouldn't mind accepting that myself if it means our baby can live in the Republic one day if they want to. I don't think we should give up our magic just yet, to protect our baby, but not using it might make it harder for the Order to find us."

Geoff sighed. "Alright, we'll go."

"Mind if we grab a bite to eat first?" asked Amy. "It was a bit of a trip getting here and after that dust up we'll need some more energy before we start making our way back."

"We have some dried fruit and other rations in the kitchen," said Hershey.

"That sounds about right," said Lucian. "Ok breakfast first, then back to Freedom City." As the group went inside Lucian noticed an old photo was turned down on a mantle and righted it. It shown Lucian when he was about eight years old laughing with an overlander who looked a few years past his prime. _"Master Charlemagne, please don't let everything we shared just be a pretense to for some twisted scheme for revenge."_

* * *

A few gladiator swats ready to unleash a barrage of rockets down the narrow hallway. Big forced his way past the rest of the team and charged the bots just before the rockets fired. Sally and Antione leapt from behind Big and cut down the half dozen troopers behind the gladiators.

"Company coming on our six!" Rouge shouted as she kicked through a few troopers.

"On it, Sugah-bat!" Bunnie then extended her arm to punch holes through the scouts that were speeding up on them.

"Any idea where to find Hope or your AI ally?" Shadow said as he shot through several troopers.

Tails looked over his portable computer. "If this is like previous Egg Carriers then I have the approximate positions of both the brig and the closest primary terminal to it and launched our attack as close as I safely could to them."

"I brought a replacement handheld for Nicole," said Rotor. "Once we locate her on the ship's systems and get her in it then we'll find out how Robotnick's going to deploy these gene bombs and from that the best way to stop them."

"A bold plan," Viktor said over the PA system. "But one that will prove futile!"

"Figures Robotnick would be watching us!" snarled Silver and he used telekinesis to tear a locked door from its frame.

After he used several homing attacks to take out more Neo Swats Sonic growled. "If you're so keen on chatting why don't you come down here and do it face to face Mr. Perfect?!"

"As much as I'd like to even the score with you, I'm won't be so foolish as to expose myself to attack without any benefit to myself."

"That just shows how cowardly and lonely you are Viktor," said Sally. "Unlike you I'm willing to take risks because I know my friends will be there to catch me when I fall."

"You think you can overcome my intellect with simple numbers? Right when I am on the verge of proving myself the better of both Ivo Robotnick and Dr. Eggman?"

Cream found the nearest camera and looked straight into it. "It's not about numbers, it's about the bonds we share! I was told your whole story. Created to be exactly like a man who did very bad things, living in constant fear that if he ever found that you weren't, you'd be wiped away like you saw so many others were." Her eyes started tearing up. "But he's gone now, you don't have to be like him anymore. I think Robotnick and Eggman made so many machines because they were lonely, just like you are lonely. If you really want to prove you're better than both them do the one thing neither was willing to do. Give up, stop hurting people and let us save you from yourself. Then once you've shown you're really sorry then I'm sure you'll have lots of friends and you'll never be lonely again."

"Is…is it really that simple?" Viktor's voice seemed softer than usual. "To be surpass my predecessors I just have to do the opposite of everything I was made to do. I don't have to surround myself with mindless drones that don't feel sympathy, that can't think beyond their programming, that don't…"

Suddenly a pair of heavy doors fell shut sealing the hallway, a powerful sucking sound permeated the corridor.

"…need oxygen!" Viktor laughed.

A set of missiles popped out of Omega's shoulders. "Neither do I!" The missiles fired and blew apart the door ahead. "Barricade to ally survival eradicated. Continuing mission to neutralize Robotnick threat."

As everyone else gasped for air Cream continued to cry. "Why can't any of them understand? When will we face someone we can convince to just stop fighting? Am I just that naive?"

"No Cream," Bunnie said calmly. "But not everyone can see when they're wrong and it takes effort to admit when you are. Don't give up on that attitude though, we need more folks who think that way not less."

"As noble that is, we're pressed for time," said Knuckles. "We need to get to…"

Suddenly the backpack Knuckles was wearing started to wriggle as a pink echidna mobini climbed out and began to sniff around.

"Julie, what is it?" Julie started to claw at a vent in the floor. "You smell something coming from there?"

"Probably food," said Rotor.

"Non," replied Antione. "I've spent years in the kitchen, if there was something edible down there I'd know."

"Wait I hear something," Rouge said. "Sounds like someone is talking down there… wait a sec, that's Hope's voice!"

"Hope!" Shadow shouted. "Can you hear me?!"

"Shadow?!" Hope yelled through the vent. "I was hoping it was you or the Freedom Fighters that was responsible for this attack."

"The rest of us are here too," said Sally. "And we're glad you managed to escape."

"Well I can still use you your help. Nicole's almost got the system password and we can write a virus to keep Viktor from activating the gene bombs but if we access the schematic files again it will alert the whole ship to our location."

"Hang on, I'll make a path for us to get to you." Knuckles picked up Julie. "No offense but you're in no condition to get into a fight. I just need you to hold out for a bit longer." After he put his transformed girlfriend back into the knapsack Knuckles slammed both his fists on the grate and tore a large hole into room with several terminals.

Sally came up to Nicole and a black and yellow hedgehog she didn't recognize. "Don't worry Nicole, we'll get you out of Viktor's systems…"

"I'm already out," Nicole said. "Robotnick had put my AI and Shard's into organic bodies and removed the way we could get out of them. We can worry about that later though, right now we're trying to finish up the virus we'll need to stop these bombs."

"How does it work?" asked Rotor. "Tails and I could help you two, then if we split the coding it'll be that much faster."

Nicole nodded. "The bombs themselves aren't really that much more than a delivery system, shockwaves created by high altitude explosions spread trillions of nanites that are programed to change identified DNA sequences to whatever template they've been preprogramed with. Since these nanites can rearrange matter they can change cybernetics into organic material as part of the process and they're so small they can pass through the gaps between particles so no structure would offer any protection. This virus must wipe clean any system that has the nanite schematic, that way even if Viktor has memorized how to make these, he'd have to build the infrastructure to do so by scratch and we could just plant it all over again."

"What about the disasters that happened?" said Tails.

Nicole's eyes widened at the now taller fox. "What happened to…"

"Long story, but for now try to prevent the worst from happening just in case."

"Well from Snivley's notes the nanites programming was messed up because the world had a big influx of chaos energy when it never saw it before, not something that can happen twice."

"One less thing to worry about, but it also means there's nothing holding Robotnick back from using them," said Rouge.

"Then we all better get to work!" Sonic turned to Tails, Rotor, Nicole and Hope. "You just be sure to get a copy of those gene bomb plans, Knux is going to need them to get the Echidna back to normal after Masquerade used one of his spares to test Mr. Perfect's new toys. We'll buy you all the time you need!"

"So, will I," said Shard. "I might not be a literal fighting machine anymore, but I still remember enough to hold my own!"

"Sonic!" an electronic voice called out. Metal Sonic, the rest of the Neo Metal Series and several neo swats could be seen in the hallway beyond. "You may have won our last bout but now we have the home field advantage!"

Sonic kicked three neo swats destroying them. "As if I'd let a bunch of tin cans like you prevent me from proposing to Sal!"

Sally turned to Sonic while she was halfway through cutting a neo swat in half. "Wait, propose?!"

Sonic looked nervous as her moved to Sally's side while keeping his eyes on the fight. "I said that out loud?"

"Sonic!" Sally blocked a blow with her ring blade. "Are you asking me to marry you now?!"

Sonic was darting between Metal Tails tail spears. "Well last night I got to thinking, I spent a year trying to get you back. I mean if after that, that big breakup we once had and everything else we've been through if we got through all that then we might as well tie the knot."

Sally dodged Metal Amy's hammer "And you thought the best time to do it was while we were engaged in mortal combat?!"

Sonic and his doppelganger were trading blows. "Well I wanted to ask you when I found you on the bridge this morning, but you fell asleep and I could tell you needed it, so I left you alone!" Sonic bounced off Metal Knuckles' head. "It just came out! I didn't think you'd say no because of a slip of the tongue!"

Sally kicked Metal Sonic away and stepped right up to the original's face. "I'm saying yes, you idiot! I just would have appreciated it if it wasn't when our lives were in danger!"

"Wait you mean it?!"

"What we have, it's been the best thing that has come out of all hardship we've had to endure since this journey began. Even if this is going to be our last mission as Freedom Fighters, I want us to just keep going. So yes Sonic, I will marry you."

The two moved in to kiss each other just before Shadow kicked Metal Sonic out of the way. "As wonderful a time as you're having, perhaps we should focus on stopping Robotnick's doomsday weapon?"

"Right," Sally turned to those still coding. "How are you doing?"

Tails took a space at one of the terminals put a drive into it. "I got the plans, now we just have to compile the virus and…"

Suddenly every monitor not in use displayed a news feed. "And now the assembled leaders of the nations of Mobius have begun to sign the accords," said an offscreen newscaster.

Hope looked confused. "Viktor should know we're planning something here, why would he want us to see this?"

"The whole world is watching it!" said Sally. "Robotnick is about to make his move, you need to hurry!"

"And now King Acorn is signing one of the last two signatures alongside United Federation President Michael Whitmore, and there it is! The Mobian Accord have been signed and a new age of peace and…"

The signal suddenly changed to show the dragon winged gear with a lightning bolt of the Robotnick Ascendency.

* * *

Amy was showing the same image to everyone gathered around the table in the cabin on the portable terminal Tails invented.

"People of Mobius," Viktor said on the terminal as the image changed to show him to his audience directly. "I am introducing myself to the world at large for the first time. I am Viktor Robotnick, the ultimate synthesis of artificial intelligence, cybernetics and genetic engineering as well as the leader of the Robotnick Ascendency, the power that shall rule this planet from now until the end of time."

"Looks like the Freedom Fighters won't be able to protect us after all," said Geoffrey. "Not with him about to keep their hands full."

"I believe in Sonic," said Amy. "He's never let us down when it mattered, why should it be any different with whatever plan Viktor needed to shot us all with DNA for an echidna mating bond for?"

* * *

Everyone in the council rotunda saw Robotnick on large monitors overhead as whispers of concern and fright spread.

"I will make my demands simple, the unconditional surrender of every government in the world within the next seven days or else your nations, your civilizations and all the people who make them up will be consigned to the ash heap of history!"

As everyone continued to worry Commander Tower came up to president Whitmore. "He's bluffing, there's no way he can do that with just one battleship."

"We can't underestimate Robotnick!" said Pythagoras. "Where's Charlemagne, we need his consul!"

Max looked to the floor ashamed. "You were right Little Bean, why were we all fool enough not to listen?"

Blaze kept her eyes focused on the screen. {Silver, how close are you to completing your mission?}

{Getting there,} Blaze heard Silver say in her mind. {But according to Tails coding a polymorphic overwriting computer virus, whatever that is, that can bypass the defenses of Robotnick's network isn't a fast thing to do even with four people working on it at once. We're making sure they can do it, but this was always going to be close.}

{We'll try to help where we can,} Blaze heard Gold say. {You keep it up and if you have a chance let Big know I'm ok. Back in that last attack he protected me, I want to give him a chance soultouch or not.}

{Can do.}

{We all have our jobs,} Blaze thought. {Let's make sure that the future is sent down the right path.}

* * *

"Now many of you will no doubt be skeptical of my ability to accomplish this, but I can carry out my threat because I control a weapon that changed this world's destiny forever and now it will do so again for me! I have revived the Xorda gene bomb!"

"Think you have one more scrap left in you Nilly?" asked Techno as she and the rest of the wild bunch was watching from the rabbit's home.

"I would if I had to," said Vanilla. "But I don't think any of us can help right now."

"Our daughter is going after him," said Johnny. "She might be bigger than I thought she'd be, but I watched you long enough to see she's gentle but she's also tough. I know you believe in her and so do I."

* * *

"And to prove my intent I am going to give you a limited target demonstration. Lilith can you please explain while I go make final preparations?"

"Of course, Viktor," Lilith said as she appeared on the screen. "I am Lilith Robotnick. Like Viktor, I am also an AI in a cybernetically and genetically enhanced clone body, we like to think of ourselves as the final step in human evolution, Homo Perfectus if you will."

"Well they both have Robotnick's ego down," said Vector.

Espio turned to the pink chameleon. "Liza since there's a chance we might fall victim to this there's something I have to say. I'm sorry I lied to you and the other chameleons of Rainbow Valley. It was on the Bride's orders, but I regret it all the same. Seeing how far your training has brought you I just want to say whatever happens I'm proud of what you've accomplished, and I hope you can forgive me."

Liza touched her horn to Espio's . "You were able to save us; you earned my forgiveness a long time ago. My forgiveness and my heart as well."

* * *

"Our version of the gene bomb is an orbital weapon. Our manufacturing and deployment capabilities have allowed us to set up a constellation of twenty-four gene bomb satellites in six orbital planes with four bombs a plane that each completes two orbits every twenty-four hours. They are arranged in a manner that any one location on Mobius will be under the influence of at least four bombs so up we can lose almost eighty percent of the network at once while still ensuring global coverage at best."

In the head office at Casino Night zone Breezie the Hedgehog hit the top number on her speed dial and got her boss' voice mail. "Mr. Mogul I'd hate to interrupt whatever it is you're doing but we have bit of a crisis going on, so call back as soon as possible!"

* * *

"Each satellite can be replaced, and the network reestablished within minutes. In short we have a weapon that is impossible to defend against and unmatched in scope."

"I'm done here!" said Rotor as he kept typing at his terminal. "Sending you my portion to compile now!"

"I just finished too!" said Tails.

"Me too!" said Hope.

Nicole nodded. "Once I finish compiling this virus, we just have to break the password into Viktor's systems. I wish I could still hook up to it, I can't go through all the…"

"Withdrawing from battle to assist in this endeavor will ensure eradication of Robotnick forces," Omega said as he came into the room. "I shall provide assistance." Omega shot a wire from his wrist to the main terminal. "Accessing systems, engaging digital warfare protocols…"

"Someone trying to poke around where they shouldn't?" came a voice from the terminal. "At least you brought me a snack!"

"Phage!" Nicole shouted. "Omega watch out!"

Jolts of electricity ran up the wire and back to Omega. "Warning, hostile software detected in systems. Moving all operations to security protocols. Ineffective, initiating emergency anti-malware purge and reboot routine. Good night for good, intruder!"

"ARGH!" the electricity seemed to shoot back across the wire just before Omega pulled it back before slumping over his optics turning off. "That was too close, I barely have enough of my program left to prevent remote access!"

Tails growled. "Great, how do we get into their systems now!?"

In the video feed a console beeped. "Now it is time for our demonstration," said Lilith. "Viktor my darling, who are the poor unfortunate souls who are going to find themselves our first official victims?"

"Oh, I had already picked a target that will give us a tactical advantage," Viktor chuckled an image of him in and elevator appeared on the screen.

Sonic winced that he wasn't fast enough to save whoever Robotnick was going devolve but promised himself that he'd get them back to normal too. One look at Sally and he could tell that she was thinking the same thing.

Suddenly the two of them and everyone other than Hope and the robots fell to their knees as their bodies were wracked in immense pain. The metal series and the few surviving neo swats stopped attacking.

"He's hit us?!" Bunnie said as her mechanical limbs seemed like they were changing to flesh and fur. Sonic would have sworn that they were being de-roboticized if he didn't know they were replacements.

"Please someone help!" Cream cried as her clothes started to look loose on her. Cheese hugged her looking panicked.

"Froggy, I don't feel so good!" Big groaned as his little buddy looked at him with worry.

"Afterall," Viktor said as he came out of a nearby elevator. "What better way to showcase our power to the world than by showing them all the Hero of Mobius as he's reduced to a harmless idiotic critter."

"You set a trap for us," Sally grunted, barely able to keep her jacket on her frame. "You led us here to use us, make everyone afraid."

"Having you here is just a bonus. I guess you're already starting to lose your intelligence, or you might have noticed that Hope Kintobor and myself are unaffected."

"Hope, take…" Nicole said reaching a hand to the overlander girl. Suddenly she dropped the drive in her hand as it started to look more like a paw, and she yowled like a wounded wildcat. Hope quickly picked the drive up and stashed it in her pocket before Metal Sonic grabbed her.

Viktor started to chuckle. "When I said the demonstration was on a limited target, I didn't mean geographically. Like my earlier test it is global in scale but limited it to a single species, mobo sapiens. In other words," Viktor's eyes became black and red. "The entire Mobian race!"

* * *

In the council rotunda panic was in full swing as the various delegates and attendees screamed and moan as their bodies started to change. "Megan, Alexis" Elias groaned as he checked on his wife and daughter.

"My babies," Megan said as she held a screaming infant one hand and the other was protecting her stomach. "My babies…"

"Mom, Dad!" Ariel cried, her sister Athena tearing up as Lupe, Lobo, Marcos and Maria were down on their hands and knees. "He's lying, you'll be ok right?!"

Lupe fell to her hands and knees. "I, I…AWWWWWWWWOOOOOOO!" In a second Lupe's husband and biological children began to howl along with her like wounded animals.

"Dear Lord," President Whitmore gasped as he saw King Max, Queen Alica, the Council of Acorn and their spouses start to change.

"Mr. President we have to get you out of here!" Commander Tower said from behind him.

The president turned looking angry. "You expect me to run while these people are suffering?!"

"I have troops and other personnel who will do all they can for the Mobians. But protocol is clear, in the event of an attack my duty is to get you to a secure location!"

The president's face sank as he was led away. "Is anywhere secure from a weapon like this?"

* * *

In Cream and Vanilla's house the Wild Bunch writhed on the ground as the groaned, squealed, squawked or yowled in pain, except for one.

"Shorty," Vanilla cried her incisors appearing to be bigger on her shrinking body than they were before. "Go, get help."

"If only this was a problem I could punch away!" yelled the robian squirrel. "Alright, but only because there's no one to run from!"

Shortfuse ran out the door and jetted off. He looked around at the chaos in the streets. "Cream, I hope you're doing better than we are kiddo!"

* * *

On Angel Island the Chaotix found themselves doubling over.

Charmy felt his size changing power activating against his will, despite his best efforts he couldn't make himself grow back to normal size. He looked up and saw the devolved Fiancée looking at him with deep concern. "Saffron… I promise… you won't… be alone..."

Saffron made a worried noise.

* * *

In Charlemagne's cabin the assembled mages could barely stand. "Sonic," Amy said with tears in her eyes as her dress started to fall off her shoulders. "Please help us!"

"No, not again!" cried Fiona moaned as she felt her teeth start to become more pointed. "I can't see this again!"

Geoffrey and Hershey looked at each other's hands as their claws became more pronounced. Lucian was on his hands and knees as looked up to the picture he set back up on the mantle. "Master, why? Did you help do this to us?"

* * *

Viktor was looking over Freedom Fighters as their transformations continued. Knuckles fell on his stomach as Julie slipped out of the backpack again. As he reached out to her, he found the spikes on his hands had grown and seemed to be merging with his fingers, looking at Julie's claws there was a growing resemblance. "Together…forever…" Knuckles said as Julie nuzzled him.

{Blaze, Gold,} Silver said through his mental link. {I don't know if we can keep this up, it's getting hard to think.}

{I can hear everyone's thoughts,} Gold replied. {Such pain, but now it's becoming simpler. Can't concentrate.}

{Did we mess up?} thought Blaze. {Is this going to be our future now?}

Silver tried to remember the mission, but everything was getting fuzzy. {Don't…know.}

Viktor eyes were blue and dispassionate. "Nothing personal, but this was best tactical move. Mobians make up somewhere between eighty and ninety percent of the sapient population of the planet, with so many potential threats removed I can take military and manufacturing facilities with little resistance while I let the rest ponder my ultimatum. Even in the unlikely event GUN finds a way to protect humans and overlanders from the gene bomb they will be spread too thin to respond to every attack, the United Federation will have no choice but to surrender."

Shadow saw Rouge shrieking as the wings on her back started to shrivel while her arms began to take the shape of new ones. He turned his attention on Victor and formed a small amount of yellow energy in his palm, while clutching his head with his other hand. "CHAOS…THINGIE!"

The bolt of energy seemed to weaken as it flew, by the time it hit Robotnick it was the size of a miniature pencil and merely made him lose his balance for a second.

"Ugh, that stung. Looks like your chaos powers are devolving along with the rest you."

Viktor knelt next to Sonic, whose gloves slipped off his hands as he stepped out of his now oversized shoes. "For years my predecessors had struggled to put an end to your constant attempts to bring down their empires to no avail. I succeeded where they failed in four days. Me, the defect! I'm better than Ivo, better than Eggman and most importantly better than you! And I just proved it!"

Sonic looked pained and confused. "Guh?"

"You probably didn't understand that," Viktor made a big circle motion. "WOOORLD…" he then pointed at himself. "MIIIIIINNNNE…" he then pointed at Sonic. "YOOOOOOOU…" he finished with a thumbs down. "LOOOSSE. I don't think I can dumb it down more than that without giving this body permanent brain damage."

Sonic turned and saw a female chipmunk that like him was the size of most mobini, they looked at each other recognizing something familiar but neither could place from where. In fact, he got that feeling from several other mobini in the hallway but something about the chipmunk was different, different and good.

Viktor turned to his robots. "Escort miss Kintobor back to her cell and have the E-series put in storage until we can rewrite his programming. As for all these creatures have them and their belongings collected and brought to the hot lab, I have an experiment I'll need every one of them for." Viktor bent over and picked up Sonic's signature footwear. "I can't think of a more fitting trophy, I might even have them bronzed."

Viktor chuckled to himself as the little animals were put into small cages.

* * *

Around Mobius, from Freedom City to Angel Island, from Mercia to Mystic Jungle and from Artika to Downunda every single Mobian on the planet they took their name from had been transformed into Mobini. The edifices of their civilization made no sense to them, their memories blurry and impossible to understand, but they went about their instincts to look for food, though for reasons no one could explain the ideas of possibly preying on former Mobians never occurred to them. Those left behind, humans, overlanders, robots and in one case a robian all had their hands full trying to keep the devolved populace from unwittingly hurting themselves all while Robotnick's weeklong ultimatum hung over their heads.

But outside a cottage some distance away from Freedom City other moves were being made.

"And that's the last one," Regina said as she closed the door on the cage that now kept a vixen mobini. "If you didn't say not to harm them, I'd hit her for biting me! Not to mention getting sprayed by the skunk, even after that removal spell I still feel like I need a bath!"

"Patience Ferrum," Specter said. "We require them for the Grand Design.

"I can't believe they're going to be our five elite since they've been reduced to dumb animals. How was Viktor devolving the mobians conducive to the Grand Design again?"

"It gives us a window of oppertunity. Robotnick's victory is not as complete as it appears. Once Witchcart has collected the item I sent her to acquire and you fetch Masters Mogul and Naugus all we need to do is wait until the seven days have almost expired, then the rite may be performed. Until then we'll make sure our future elites are well cared for in their while they are in their devolved state."

"And what if Viktor realizes we've been using him? Our wards won't fool him forever and I'd rather not harm my Snivley."

"They will not discover our true intentions until it is too late, provided we leave behind no evidence."

Specter conjured a fireball in his hand then turned from Regina and shot it in a stream at the cottage's roof. The flames started to quickly spread.

Regina looked impressed. "Lord Specter, I was under the impression you hid here for years. You're able to just burn it down just like that? No sentiments at all?"

"This place has severed its purpose in the Grand Design, it is not needed anymore." Specter then turned and opened his palm. "Zone Gate." A portal appeared nearby as the archmagi levitated the cages holding Amy, Lucian, Geoffrey, Hershey and Fiona. "Come Master Ferrum, there are still preparations to be made."

The Ixis wizards left with the Mobini the portal closing behind them. Inside the cottage the fire continued to spread. On the mantle a photo of an older overlander smiling with a laughing Tenrec boy still stood as the flames came to claim it, the corner with the Overlander was the first touched by the fire, the balding man's kindly face was burned away.


	7. Remembrance Day under the GUN

Chapter 6

Remembrance Day Under the GUN

"You have had your day," the mysterious voice said. "The time has come for you to make your choice."

Sonic was not sure how he got to what looked like an endless void. The last thing he remembered was hitting the sack. "Ok, not my usual dream."

"You were given a day to find the agent," said another voice. "A day where those of the second and third worlds lived in the original."

"Despite your successes you have failed in your task," said a third voice. "Now which of the three worlds will be spared?"

"What are you…?"

Suddenly he was assaulted by a flood of memories, the Super Genesis Wave, his world utterly transformed, Freedom Fighters who were the same yet so different, the world changing yet again, now there were no freedom fighters, but he was still the hero. But most of all he remembered those who were erased and those who wouldn't exist if others weren't were erased.

"Three worlds," said a fifth. "Choose one to continue or lose all three."

"But no matter what I choose people will die!"

"Quit stalling!" came a sixth voice. "Make your choice now!"

Suddenly Sonic was surrounded by endless faces. Many of them familiar, some had two different versions of themselves, others three but everyone of them seemed to be reaching out to him in desperation all of them repeating the same words.

"Save me Sonic! Save me Sonic! Save me Sonic!"

"This…this isn't right! Whatever choice I'd make it would be the wrong one! They don't deserve to be wiped away because I couldn't save them! I'm not going to sacrifice innocent people to have someone around like I owned them! If you gotta erase someone erase me! Because if I just choose who lives and who dies because of what I want, I'd be no different from what I spent a lifetime fighting against! I don't care how powerful you are no one has that right!"

"So, your answer is defiance against beings far more powerful than you," came a seventh voice. "Is that your final decision?"

"In case you haven't noticed defiance and fighting impossible odds is kinda my thing."

The endless faces vanished. Suddenly the voices spoke as one. "Then you have proven yourself worthy."

The void became a colorful version of outer space and he found himself standing on a heptagonal platform. Then seven lights appeared and became figures standing around him. A green hedgehog, a red wolf, a blue dog, a purple cat, a yellow bear, a cyan bird and a white rabbit all about the same size as himself. They all had glowing eyes, but no other firm details could be discerned.

"Ok, I now have a million questions. Let's start with who are you, where am I and what that whole deal with the three worlds is."

"We are the creators of Chaos Emeralds," said the Hedgehog. "You may know us as the Chaos Titans."

"Kinda small for titans,"

"We have chosen to appear in forms you would be comfortable with," said the dog. "As beings of pure Chaos Energy interacting with us would be difficult for your mortal mind otherwise."

"Since before time began, we have watched over and protected your universe from here, the Sanctum of the Titans," said the Wolf.

Sonic's quills bristled. "You're not very good protectors if you were willing to erase all those people from reality!"

"The mortals were never in real danger," said the cat. "But we had to test your resolve to ensure the safety of others, even if there seemed to be no favorable outcome. Your resolve to create your own answer."

"And If I failed your little test?"

"You would wake up back home with no memory of this and we would select another to be our champion," said the bear.

"So, you're asking me for my help,"

"Well we did restore what was erased from reality those two times and unified it all into the original world," said the bird. "We'll need to rest for an epoch or two before returning to full strength."

"Well if you saved my friends it's probably the least, I can do,"

"We're afraid your world is not out of danger," said the Rabbit. "An ancient force is moving to reshape all of existence, we need you to stop its agent on your world before that force can be unleashed."

"Wait a minute, does this have anything to do with the person out to kill me Silver and Gold warned me about?"

"All will be revealed as you move closer to your goal," said the Hedgehog. "For now, though you have earned a boon you will need to save your friends in the challenge to come. Fiest!"

The from above them the giant panda who ruled the special zone appeared with the cyan Chaos Emerald in hand. "I see the blue one has passed your challenge," Fiest said. "I didn't find it all that amusing but since your little mission does interest me, I'll play along."

Fiest tossed the emerald to Sonic. "Thanks, I guess."

"Do not tell anyone of what has transpired here," said the Dog. "At least for now."

"But stay alert," said the Wolf.

"Already the agent has laid the ground work," said the Cat.

"And will stop at nothing to ensure its creator's will," said the Bear.

"But you have Courage and Justice on your side," said the Bird.

"And the support of many wonderful friends," said the Rabbit.

"May the light of creation guide you on your path," the Titans said together as they glowed so bright Sonic had to cover his eyes.

* * *

The next thing he knew Sonic woke with a start. "Whoa, weird dream."

Suddenly he felt something sticking into the small of his back. Sonic reached behind him and pulled out the cyan Chaos Emerald. "Ok, not a dream."

Getting up Sonic looked out his window and saw people were already getting out on the street. "Right, Remembrance Day. Well at least until the big showdown it looks like things will be chill."

* * *

"Scramble! Scramble!" the P.A. system announced while sirens blared. "Hostile forces inbound from the northeast! All units prepare to engage. Emergency battle formations! Standard Battle procedures initiated. Engage hostile forces and neutralize! This is not a drill! Repeat, this is not a drill!"

Hope Kintobor was hopping out of her room quickly throwing on her overalls. "Talk about a rude awakening! Not the sort of alarm clock I was expecting this morning."

"Couldn't the bad guys have given us another half-hour?" Rouge said coming out of her quarters while applying lipstick and brushing her eyelashes. "Beauty like this doesn't just happen, it takes a lot of work!"

"You're slowing us down." Shadow said from the door to the rest of the base. "Omega and I are already set to fight."

"Omega doesn't have to worry about getting dressed!" Rouge said now working on eyeshadow. "And I bet you sleep with those shoes on!"

"First line Gun Hunter, Gun Hawk and Gun Beetle sentries have been destroyed!" came an announcement over the base loudspeakers. "Team Dark is to report to the main hanger to repel the enemy!"

"Shadow take this!" Hope tossed the black hedgehog a device. "A lightning shield might come in handy. I'll see if the new Wildcat mech is ready for deployment, good luck guys!"

"Whoever these guys are must have thought Guardian Mountain would be a soft target with the Letter of Gabriel guarding the accord signing," said Rouge.

"They should have checked if I was going to be here as well," said Shadow. "A mistake that will cost them dearly."

* * *

Outside the mountain Viktor Robotnick observed from a sleek, aerodynamic, flying pod while black and grey robots with red visors charged the base while the Colossus unleashed its bombardment. At his side Neo Metal Sonic hovered in midair.

"Excellent, the Neo Swats are outclassing the comparable GUN robots in every category. However, the mode change function on the Scout and Aviator models is taking zero-point-three seconds longer than anticipated to complete."

"A negligible difference," said Neo Metal.

"Not when going against the likes of Sonic. Cannon fodder or not I want the Neo Swats at peak efficiency when we attack Freedom City."

"The flaw has been traced to warping in the hinges due to an error in production," said Lilith. "Shall I have the parts replaced?"

"No, the Neo Swats are designed to be disposable. Correct the production error and get started on the next batch."

"When shall I attack?" asked Neo Metal.

"As soon as Shadow shows himself, then you'll attack followed by Ferrum's allies. Meanwhile Regina and I will move in on the emeralds and Snivley." The radar in the pod started beeping. "And here they come, Trooper models focus attacks on Shadow and Omega, Scouts are to support the attack on Shadow while the Gladiators bombard Omega, Aviators target Rouge, Neo Metal pick your targets at your own discretion, I'll be making a break for the vault!"

* * *

Omega had been using the guns that were normally concealed in his forearms to tear apart several Neo Swats, some were little different than your common foot soldier, others were lighter but moved quickly by changing to a motorbike like form and a third type was built heavily with shoulder mounted guns but just took a few more shots from Omega.

A few bike bots slipped past Omega but were quickly mopped up by Shadow. "It looks like someone found some toys that weren't used by the late Dr. Eggman."

"Mass produced stock units, no match for the ultimate fighting machine."

"I agree they are no match for me!" Neo Metal said as he jetted forward. "And now that I have been upgraded with Metallix neither are either of you!"

"Metal Sonic," Shadow said dismissively. "Interesting new look, so who's the wannabe world ruler you are working for this time?"

"I think I see him!" Rouge said as she was taking out Neo Swats built for flight, including being able to change into a form like a jet fighter. Her eyes however were focused on Viktor's hovercar. "Looks like old Eggman had a fan. Better disappoint him."

Robotnik noticed Rouge swooping down on him. "Regina if you and your pals are going to show up sooner would be better than later!"

Regina suddenly appeared next to Victor in the hovercar and shot a lightning bolt from her hand, Rouge was forced to break off to avoid it. "Relax Viktor, we've already won. The poor fools just haven't realized yet."

Viktor eyed the woman suspiciously. "Teleportation, electrical projection, your file didn't say you can do that."

"I've been learning a few tricks since I went underground. But this should be more familiar to you." Regina shot a beam at the GUN robots who then turned and started firing on the soldiers. "That should keep them busy while we get what we came for."

"What about Neo Metal? Metallix can only do so much and I'd rather not have my best fighter get himself scrapped!"

"My allies should be coming in about now."

A transmission was sounded out over the GUN frequency, one that Viktor had already decoded.

"We have four bogeys approaching from the east! Three Mobians on extreme gear and…what looks like an old lady in a flying minecart!?"

Viktor looked at Regina in disbelief. "That's your backup?"

"I admit Witchcart is a bit on the odd side, but she is one of the original Magitek mages. A lot of my new repertoire I learned from her. Don't worry, she'll handle that request you called in."

"Original Magitek? But that would make her ancient!"

"Focus on the emeralds for now, I'll give formal introductions once the job is done."

Viktor noticed a large door. "Snivley's cell should be a couple of levels down, the vault's straight ahead."

"Then we better split up for now, just be sure to pick me and Snivley up!"

After Regina vanished Viktor launched missiles at the door, several mounted turrets and GUN robots. "Out of the way cannon fodder!"

* * *

Back at the base entrance Team Dark found themselves with some new problems Shadow was now finding himself being doubled team by Neo Metal and a blue furred wolf that was able to throw energy blasts at him and wouldn't stop laughing.

"And just what do you find so funny about this?!" Shadow said as he kicked the wolf in the stomach.

"Hehehehehe! The look that's going to be on your face when you realize how much trouble you're going to be in! Hehehehehe!"

Meanwhile Omega found himself grappling metal hand to claw of a huge brown grizzly. "You exhibit great strength for a flesh bag."

"Are you making fun of me?!" roared the Bear. "Nobody insults Bearenger and tells the tale! The madder I get the stronger I am, and you just really ticked me off!"

Bearenger started to push Omega to the ground. "Hydrualics compensating." Omega began to work to get into a stalemate.

Up above Rouge was dogfighting a white rabbit on a hoverboard with two red ribbons tied into bows on the ends of her ears. While Rouge was trying to kick the girl off, she seemed to dodge by getting distracted and moving at the right moment. "Causing trouble is so much bliss," said the Rabbit. "So Carrotia is gonna blow you a kiss!"

As Carrotia blew her kiss a lip shaped energy beam nearly hit Rouge and caused an explosion when it hit the ground. "How can someone so ditzy be so dangerous?"

The whole time an old woman sitting in a minecart kept aloft by rockets watched and cackled. "Everything is going as Lord Specter foresaw, guess that means I better be ready to carry out his instructions." The witch turned to the three Mobians and the robot. "Falke, Bearenger, Carrotia fall back! You metal hog, get ready to help your boss, I have a special present for the dark one here!"

Witchcart formed a purple orb in her hand and then tossed it at Omega. The E-series stopped as the enemy disengaged. "Omega!" Rouge yelled.

"Destroy your friends for me, will you?" Witchcart cackled.

Omega's optics had turned purple and he armed all his weapons and pointed them at Team Dark. "As the Witchcart commands!"

* * *

Snivley knew something was up when he felt explosion rock the walls, but he wasn't informed of anything. He was just expected to run an analysis, but like every other experiment he was expected to do as part of his sentence they didn't say what exactly he was working on making the job ten times as difficult.

Suddenly the guards that kept watch turned away and pointed their guns down the hall. "You halt!"

The guards were then thrown against a wall by an invisible force. Snivley then saw a green haired, yellow eyed woman come up to the steel door on the armored glass of the cell.

"Regina!" Snively said running to the door. "I thought when I was locked up down here, we'd never see each other again!"

"Don't worry my Snivley, once I get you out it'll be you and me together again."

"Sorry, but my creep of a half-brother isn't supposed to leave his room!" Hope shouted from the other end of the hall. "But if you give up now you might get the cell across from him so you can see each other every day."

Regina turned and looked at the teenaged mechanic. "And how are you going to stop me, change the oil on something? Whatever it is we're in love so back off."

Hope mounted a device on her wrist and was surrounded by a sphere of flame. "Love? Snively doesn't know the meaning of the word and I don't think you do either, not really. Last chance, get out or get hurt."

Regina smugly waved Hope on. "Try it little girl."

Hope ran forward, her real aim just to stall till Shadow could get there but at least the shield should provide some protection.

Regina then had a wicked smile as she pointed her staff forward. "Zone Gate!"

Before she could stop herself Hope ran through a portal which then vanished.

Snivley was awestruck by the display of power Regina had never shown before. "Where did you send her?"

"To an ally outside, now stand back!"

Regina blasted the door off its hinges and then tapped a communicator. "Viktor, I have Snivley come pick us up."

Snivley heard the somewhat familiar voice on the other end. "Yeah about that, I'm still at the vault…"

* * *

"…and the part where I get the emeralds has run into a bit of a snag."

A quadrupedal mech much larger than the pod now had its weapons pointed at Viktor. "This is Mantis Troop, Wildcat. I have engaged the intruder, proceeding to knock him out."

Suddenly Neo Metal flew in an launched the mech at the wall. The Wildcat rolled, landed it four feet on the wall and stuck to it perfectly.

"I take it Witchcart has freed you up to contribute to the success of my endeavor.

"Affirmative, I will handle this overdesigned piece of scrap!"

"We can't stay too long, support my attack and work quickly! I just hope Regina and Witchcart remember to get my little souvenir."

* * *

Hope had popped outside where she found Rouge and Shadow, with lightning shield activated trading blows with Omega. "Guys what's wrong with Omega?"

Hope suddenly found her shield depowered then she was grabbed by the wrist and pulled up face to face with an old Overlander hag. "The same thing that just happened to your little device, one my spells."

"So Snively's girlfriend brought her grandma to help," Hope huffed.

"I ain't nobody's grandma. My name is Wendolyn, but you probably know me better by my title, the Witchcart."

Hope's eyes widened in fear. "No, that's not possible! The Witchcart is a myth, a story Overlanders told to scare misbehaving children!"

Witchcart plucked a single hair from Hope's head and tucked it away in her pocket.

"Ow!"

"Did that feel real to you? So how exactly did you misbehave to be told my story?"

"Leave her alone, old bag!" Rouge shouted aiming a drill kick straight into Witchcart.

"Oh, so feisty and youthful!" Witchcart said as she projected a field that stopped Rouge's momentum then grabbed her by the ankle. "I've been meaning to recharge my power, it's been over thirteen years since the last time and your youth and vitality would be perfect!"

Some sort of energy began to flow from Rouge up through her leg and into Witchcart's hand. The Bat began screaming in pain. Shadow managed to pull himself away from fending off Omega's attack just long enough to see what was happening. "ROUGE!"

* * *

Back in the vault Victor's pod was firing energy blasts at the Mech as it jumped from wall to floor to ceiling while launching missiles from it shoulders, firing a nose mounted machine gun and tried to swipe and him and Neo Metal.

"This is Mantis Troop, Wildcat! Wildcat to Control! I've taken heavy fire, lockdown the vault! Repeat lockdown the vault!"

Regina and Snively had teleported into Viktor's pod. "I see what the holdup is," Regina said looking at the battlemech. "Would you like me to help you wrap this up Robotnick?"

Snively fell to the vehicle's floor. "No, not another one! I think I'd like to go back to my cell now!"

Viktor's eyes turned red and black as he glared at the long nosed Overlander while picking up a laser blaster. "Snively, if you want to get out of this alive, sit down and shut up! Regina help Metal Sonic finish this, I'm going for the emeralds!"

Regina sent an energy beam from her staff towards the Wildcat mech and hit it on its hind leg. The Mech began to crystalize while Neo Metal began to fly towards it is a corkscrew roll.

"Eject! Eject! Eject!"

The pilot cleared the mech before the crystals reached the cockpit. A second later Metal Sonic flew through the crystalized mech shattering it. "Now for the organic."

"We don't have time!" Viktor yelled as he blasted open a safe then removed the green and red Chaos Emeralds from inside. "We got what we came for, let's go!"

Regina held her pointer and middle fingers to her forehead. "Witchcart we have the emeralds, wrap up whatever you're doing and bring your Witchcarters to the Colossus."

"Witchcart?!" Snively yelled. "She's real?! Regina what have you gotten yourself into!?"

Viktor jumped back into the pod. "A mutually beneficial partnership. All surviving troops, initiate transmat recall!"

A second later Neo Metal Sonic, the flying pod and its occupants had vanished from the vault.

* * *

Witchcart was still holding Rouge and Hope when she reacted like she heard something. "Looks like it's time for us to leave Witchcarters. As for you Shadow, since you're the hero I'll let you decide, which damsel in distress will you save?"

Witchcart threw Rouge into the air and from the way she was spinning she wouldn't be able to pull out of the tumble into flight in time. Then the Witchcarters hopped onto their extreme gear and followed Witchcart towards the Colossus with Hope in tow.

"I'll be ok!" Hope yelled. "Save Rouge!"

Shadow looked at Witchcart and the Colossus behind her. "You'll pay for this, that is a promise!" He then ran off to catch the falling bat.

By the time Shadow caught Rouge the Neo Swats had vanished, Omega and the GUN robots returned to normal and the Colossus had speed off. "Reboot complete," said Omega. "External control influence purged, new objective designated: payback."

Rouge coughed. "Not exactly my best performance." Shadow's expression had worried her as did strange pitch of her own voice. "Shadow, what's wrong, why does my voice sound so…" Rouge managed to catch a glimpse in the rearview mirror of a burning jeep of an elderly female bat with white fur. "Old?!"

Rouge left Shadow's hold and took a closer look in the mirror, whatever Witchcart did to her she seemed to have aged sixty years. Her skin was wrinkled, her breasts sagging, her abdomen swollen, her joints and bones aching, and she was hunched over. "What, what did that witch do to me?! AHHHHHH!" Rouge suddenly clutched her chest in pain and collapsed to the ground.

"She has gone into cardiac arrest," said Omega. "Multiple internal systems failures detected, chances of survival, minimal."

"_You will be abandoned,"_ the voice of Black Doom echoed inside of Shadow's mind like something from a forgotten nightmare. _"One by one your friends will abandon you or die, until the whole world is against you. They will fear you and you must rule over them lest they lock you away like the monster they fear you are, for all eternity."_

Shadow felt his own heart race. "Rouge, Maria. I won't let that happen. I am no tyrant, I will protect those who matter to me! My destiny is my own! This is who I am!"

Shadow removed his limiter rings then knelt and placed his hands over Rouge's heart. "CHAOS HEAL!"

Rouge was having her life flash before her eyes. A spoiled child whose wealthy parents gave her everything she wanted, that same child dressed in black screaming that people were putting her parents into boxes leaving her alone. The robots coming and burning her big house to the ground, the child as she began to steal just to have enough to eat and stay warm. Growing into beauty as she got good enough to steal the jewels she always loved as a child sparking a growing rivalry with a certain weasel and fox duo. Meeting Sonic and Shadow, the bad alliances that began to drag down her reputation. Her, Shadow and Omega joining GUN, forming Team Dark and befriending Hope, making her feel for the first time in so many years she had a family. But now she was at the end.

Suddenly she felt a warm light entering her, pulling her back from the brink. Her vision began to clear, she was looking at Shadow who was panting heavily.

"Shadow?" Rouge found her voice now had its usual timbre. She quickly stroked her skin to find it as smooth as it usually was. Taking a compact out from her suit the looked in the mirror inside to find her youth was restored. "Shadow, you did this for me? How?"

Shadow seemed to have steam evaporate from him as the black hedgehog collapsed.

"SHADOW! I need I medic here, now!"

* * *

On the Colossus Viktor, Regina and Snively climbed out of the flying pod while Metal Sonic touched down. "Congratulations Viktor," Lilith said from a nearby terminal. "With the objective obtained and our forces experiencing only a 20% casualty rate against such a large force with including high level threats like Shadow the first offensive of the Robotnik Ascendency is a resounding success."

"Thanks in large part to the magical assistance we provided," said Regina. "But it was only to get a handle on the difference of numbers and to deal with the heavy hitters, we'd never have been able to pull this off on our own."

"In time I'll be capable of more," said Robotnick. "Especially once I receive my weapon."

"Uh, uh, uh. We still have four more emeralds to gather."

Viktor's eyes became red and black. "The deal was for four emeralds not six!"

"A unique opportunity has presented itself, my employer has learned that two more emeralds will be brought into the city, but only if we carry out this next attack by this evening."

"You expect me to replenish my forces, complete the other three Neo Metal robots, get all the way to Freedom City and attack it in the same day?"

"Can't handle it?"

Viktor's eyes became blue again as he smirked. "For me easy, but we can't spare a moment. Lilith set course for Freedom City."

"Right away Viktor."

"I'm still confused," said Snivley. "Who are you exactly?"

"Remember that little project of your uncle's that you sabotaged to make sure he wouldn't come back? Eggman revived it, and I took over from the inside. Although if you hadn't sabotaged Project Cicada I would never have been programmed, in a way I owe my very existence to you."

"I guess that makes me your father."

Viktor flicked Snivley's nose in the same way his predecessors did. "Don't push it," Viktor turned back to Regina. "He's all yours."

"Sadly, my employer has other plans. He wants Snivley to stay here to assist you and act as a liaison between us."

"Not again…" moaned Snivley. "Can't you make him reconsider?"

Regina leaned into Snively's ear with a panicked expression. "Trust me when I say my new boss is someone you don't want to get on the bad side of! The rewards are magnificent, but he does not like it when you question this Grand Design he follows!"

"Snively relax," said Viktor. "I believe you can catch more flies with honey than vinegar, as long as you are loyal and perform well enough, I reward my followers. What were you to your uncle and Eggman? In the end a measly assistant given just enough power to be marginally useful. However, play your cards right and you can taste real power."

"I've heard that one before," Snivley grumbled. "It usually ended with me being abused, left for dead or locked up."

"And you responded with betrayal. I learned from my predecessor's mistakes, I treat you well and you have no reason to turn against me."

Snivley thought in silence trying to see the trap but couldn't find any flaw in Viktor's reasoning.

"Stick with me and I'll give you a corner of Mobius to call your very own. Ever hear of New Cesarea?"

"I can't say I have."

"I've been doing research into what information on the old-world humanity managed to preserve. New Cesarea was a great and prosperous state before Earth became Mobius. I have a plan that will help me take over this world and a weapon your sweet Regina is willing to give me to carry it out. Once it is complete you will be near the top of my forces in the new order and New Cesarea's lands will be yours. So, what do you say Grand Marshal Snivley?"

"G-G-Grand Marshal? You're serious?!"

Viktor's smile was like that of a shark. "Deadly."

"Well, since the alternative is multiple life sentences in solitary confinement or worse, I really have nothing to lose."

"I knew you were smarter than your uncle gave you credit for."

"Speaking of rewards," said Lilith. "Did you get that little something I asked you pick up while you were down there?"

"Oh, yes the hag was supposed to get it. Witchcart, do you have what I asked you get!?"

The doors to an accompanying hangar opened and Witchcart came strolling in with her minions right behind, but Bearenger was also holding the struggling Hope.

"Let me go, you oversized smelly brute!"

"Smelly?" the grizzly growled before tossing Hope to the floor. "I already had my bath this month!"

"The whole enchilada," said Lilith.

Viktor grumbled as he approached Witchcart. "I asked for a DNA sample, not a prisoner!"

"I got that too," Witchcart said offering the hair she plucked from Hope earlier.

"That's not the point!" Viktor yelled taking the hair. "That black hedgehog is going to hunt me down to get her back! I can't let her go without exposing my location and if I eliminate her Shadow will probably do the same to me!"

"I had to make him choose between saving two of his comrades in order to escape."

"You just put this whole operation in jeopardy!"

"Not according to Lord Specter," Witchcart cackled. "He said to make sure you hold onto the girl."

Viktor smirked. "So, your boss now has a name. Want to go for bonus points and tell me why he is gathering individuals with magical ability or did you think I wouldn't notice from Regina's improved power?"

Before either Regina or Witchcart could answer or refuse Hope tried to give a swift kick to Viktor while he was distracted. The scientist had moved to block on instinct.

"Nice try, but I have memorized about two hundred forms of martial arts. Your devolved limbic system couldn't hope to match."

"Devolved?!"

"Compared to an enhanced human body like this one. One of the Overlanders' most prominent traits, the ability to regulate adrenaline and cortisol can at times barely keep up. Once you get angry it can be hard to stop, I bet you feel like you are ready to explode!"

Hope clenched her fist but then took a few deep breaths then looked Viktor square in the eye. "It's something we've had to deal with our whole lives. It brought us to brink of ruin several times, but I won't let you use my anger to manipulate me."

Viktor simply smiled. "That's my girl."

"Why would you call me that?"

"Your Father, Colin Kintobor Sr., was an excellent physical specimen whose genome was close enough to his brother's that it was easy incorporate his traits into this body. Julian had the brains, Colin had the brawn, now I have both. Genetically you could say I am your father."

Hope turned away in disgust. "It takes more than DNA to make family. Snivley and I share bits of those genes you're so proud of, but a hedgehog, a bat and a robot have been more family to me than he ever was. As far as I'm concerned, you're just a thief who stole from a man who was deeply flawed but still better than you can ever hope to splice yourself into being."

Robotnick shrugged. "Very well then, you've chosen your family and I am making mine." Viktor put the hair into a test tube before putting it back into his pocket. "All I needed was your genome for Lilith, she wanted her body based on a Maria Robotnick and the information we had said your genetic code would fill in the gaps we needed."

"But I am planning on making several improvements," said Lilith. "I think I'll make for a much smarter, stronger and more beautiful 'you' than you will turn out to be."

"Metal take our 'guest' to a holding cell, once I drop this sample off in the cloning lab, I'll meet you back in robotics to finish upgrading your 'comrades'. Snively you should know your way around an Egg Carrier, find some quarters to your liking than make yourself at home. I'll find a task for you after we attack Freedom City."

"Witchcart and I have other preparations to make," said Regina. "But we'll contact you once we've finalized our attack plan. I'll speak to you soon my dear Snively."

"I'm looking forward to it my beloved Regina," the toady said back.

Witchcart spread her hand in front of her and a portal appeared. "Witchcarters with me."

Soon the two mages and their minions had stepped through and vanished as the rest moved to their destinations. Once Viktor was alone in a hallway his communicator beeped. "Viktor, I have questions," said Lilith.

"If it's about your body you'll have to be patient. Even with the advances Project Cicada provides clones aren't built in day." Viktor laughed at his personal joke.

"I understand but that wasn't my question. You promised Snively New Cesarea, I have checked the available data and have found it was more commonly known as 'New Jersey' not that large of a territory and one heavily polluted by the factories Ivo Robotnick had in the area."

"Snivley doesn't need to know that yet. I only said I reward loyalty, I never said how much. It's still better than what he had before so I think he'll learn to count his blessings."

"Very well, one final question. The two other projects you began work on yesterday, your notes say you are still missing one component to project Delta."

"I plan to acquire it in the Freedom City attack, if we're lucky no one will notice we've picked it up in the confusion of what else would be missing."

* * *

Sonic came to the entrance to a cemetery, Sally had several baskets of five petaled yellow flowers at her feet. The rest of the team had yet to arrive, but a large purple cat and his pet frog had shown up.

"Hey Big it's been a while," said Sonic. "How's the fishing in Freedom City?"

The cat gave a big thumbs up.

Sally gave a short bow. "Big, I'm sorry for what Eggman's brainbox did to you, one of the gentlest people I know and because of my misguided attempt to fix the world you became a nasty brute. I hope someday you can forgive me for…"

Big put a hand on Sally's head. "Already did."

"Even when dealing with trauma the guy's laid back," said Sonic. "Maybe there's something we can all learn from him."

Sally turned her gaze on the flower basket. "This is one of my favorite flowers, Julayla called it 'The Light of Hope'. They can grow even where other flowers can't survive and have come to symbolize resilience and, well hope."

Sonic nodded and took one of the flowers. "I heard there's one growing back at the old Resistance hideout now it's no longer being used. I never got why these were always laid on graves on Remembrance Day though, why would the dead need hope?"

"It's not so they can have hope, it's to acknowledge that they have GIVEN hope to us through their sacrifices. Everyone who passed in a previous war should already have one on their graves but its customary for friends and loved ones to do the same. I'm going to put one on Julayla's grave, I know she'd love that, anyone you're honoring?"

"Tommy Turtle. To think when we were little, I made fun of the guy, almost a borderline bully to him. Then he sacrificed himself to stop A.D.A.M., I never told anyone but that was the closest I have ever come to giving up or at least it was before those six months on the Death Egg…"

"Sonic if it gets too much for you…"

"It's alright, I vented remember?" Sonic turned to Big. "Anyone you are giving a flower to?"

Big waved out to the cemetery. "Done."

"Buddy, your heart might be the biggest part of you."

Tails, Amy, Rotor, Antonie and Bunnie came up and took some flowers. Rotor and Antione each took one while Amy and Bunnie took two each and Tails got three.

"Mornin' yall," said Bunnie. "So, who're giving your flowers to?"

Tails looked at a tall stone in the cemetery. "I'm going to lay these at the common monument for Sir Connery, Eddy the Yeti and Doctor Nate Morgan. It's sad he practically brought the Mobians out of the dark ages all by himself and nobody talks about him anymore."

"Well he was never one for attention," said Sonic. "Still he did deserve better."

"Yeah pretty much the same for Eddy as his assistant, with Sir Connery well he was Uncle Merlin's friend and since he's not here right now it felt only right that I did this in his stead."

Sally turned to Antione and Rotor. "I take it yours are for your fathers?"

The two nodded. "I had a bad dream about him," said Rotor. "In it he…wasn't the nicest guy, now he died when I was little, but I knew that couldn't be right."

"Must just be jitters," Sonic said recalling a world where that dream was cold hard reality.

Antione choked up. "To think it may have been Patch who poisoned him, but my father's killer was still me, another version of me but…"

"I'm sure he'd never hold it against you Sugah-Twan," said Bunnie. "If anything, he'd probably have the same doubts as you, that another version of him could have a hand in shaping that monster."

"Merci, who are your flowers for?"

Bunnie looked to the same monument as Tails. "Ma and Pa."

"Didn't they fight for the other side?" asked Sonic.

"They did, but Remembrance Day isn't about sides. Uncle Beau and Aunt Lulu told me the four of them were best friends growing up, but they just had a serious falling out about how the Kingdom treated the Southern Baronies and they were all more concerned about who was right rather than sticking together. If that didn't happen then maybe I would have gotten to really know the good parts of Jedidiah and Suzanne Rabbot, but now if they just knew that I forgive them perhaps they can rest a little easier."

"I'm going there too," said Amy. "For my own mom and dad, so you aren't alone."

"Alright," said Sally. "We best be off honoring the fallen, Vanilla wanted us to meet her and Cream here before we left, then we have some time before the official reunion."

"In that case we better not keep our friends waiting," said Sonic.

The team dispersed on their own personal missions.

* * *

Hershey laid her flower at a gravestone marked "Cocoa Cat" and wiped a tear from under the shades that went with the hat and trench coat of her disguise. After a few moments of silence, she turned to the grave next to it with morbid fascination. It was marked "Hershey St. John" and had three flowers on it. "One from the people, one from Uncle Mars, but a third…Geoffrey was here," she whispered.

"Then it means Harvey's probably right about you distracting him long enough for us to take him prisoner," said Elias.

"I'm hoping it won't come to that. I don't like having to wait, I want to go right up to Naugus, claw his eyes out and take Geoff back."

"Harvey's right, the best chance we have to stop Naugus is to take his advantage away when he needs it the most. You do understand that Geoff's probably going to be imprisoned for a long time, his change of heart isn't going to let him off the hook completely. Maybe you should start thinking about moving on with your life."

"If it was Megan would you want to just move on?"

Elias thought back to the previous night when Megan told him he was going to be a father again, of a child he conceived with her. "No, I wouldn't. Maybe, I could make a case for exile instead of imprisonment, that way you could be with him while he serves his sentence."

"Thank you. After Drago tricked me into almost killing your sister, I nearly did the same to him before Sally stopped me. I was always weak, but Geoffery showed me how I could be strong, he saved me, now I have to return the favor."

"Did he ever tell you anything about this deal with Naugus?"

"No, I still can't believe it, it sounds like something a different person would do. Maybe he just wanted to spare me, we all have secrets after all. If only I had come back sooner…"

"What happened to you, where were you for all this time?"

Hershey shook. "I'd rather not say, I had to do some things I'm not proud of to make it back here. We all have secrets remember?"

Elias backed away. "Fine, it isn't important right now. You should get back to Harvey."

While Elias started moving away Hershey took another look at her Cocoa's gravestone. "Mother, I am so sorry," she whispered. "I know what's at stake, but I can't lose him again…" She then turned left quietly.

* * *

The Freedom Fighters had gathered at the large monument where Cream, Cheese, Chocola and Vanilla were waiting. The elder rabbit was holding five of the same flowers and nodded as they came close. "Thank you for coming, being such good friends with Cream I knew it'd be important for you to be here." She then turned to her daughter. "Cream, the way you stood up to protect others but still kept that gentle spirit, I couldn't be prouder of you. But since you are a freedom fighter, it's time you learned the truth."

"Truth?" Cream asked. "But you wouldn't lie to me."

"No, I never lied, but there was something I kept from you. I wanted to wait until you were older but with how much you have already grown, you need to know now. You see once a upon a time…"

Vanilla took out a pair of photographs she kept one behind the other but the one that could be seen had six Mobians in it, one of them was clearly Vanilla but instead of her usual reserved form of dress she wore a small white tank top and a pair of jean shorts that didn't even go halfway down her thighs with a hole for her cottontail. She was looking at the Mobian next to her, a grey rabbit in a red jacket and blue jeans carrying what looked like a high tech pugil stick, in a way that could only be described as sultry.

"…I was a Freedom Fighter."

Cream gasped. "You? But you hate fighting."

"This is you!?" said Amy. "If you didn't say so, I'd sworn you were two different people."

"I know not every division reported back to Knothole," said Sally. "But I'd think I would have known if you were a Freedom Fighter."

"You're right about us not reporting to you your majesty," said Vanilla. "The Wild Bunch, as we called ourselves got started the same year Robotnick took over, when most of you were still little. I was raised the same way I've tried to raise Cream but at the time I didn't want to be lady-like, so I ran off. Between hearing about what Robotnick was doing and meeting up with the others, it felt like the perfect escape. We felt to be real Freedom Fighters we shouldn't have to answer to anyone, so we just did our own thing, helped where we could and had the wildest parties."

Cream looked flabbergasted. "Mother, this, this isn't like you at all!"

"It's not now but back then…It wasn't until later I grew to respect what my parents were trying to do for me. Since then I laid low and distanced myself from my past mindset. But that was what I call my wild girl phase, and these were my best friends."

Vanilla pointed to a pig in the photo with a black leather jacket and jeans. "Porker Lewis, while he was a bit cowardly, he was a wiz with computers and great behind the wheel of almost any vehicle and he was often the voice of reason among us."

She then pointed to a green feathered canary with a red and black sweater and blue mini skirt. "Tekno, my best friend in the team and a master of anything mechanical or electronic. Absolutely fearless and passionate in whatever she did, there were no such things as half measures to her. She was the one who gave me the nickname the gang had for me, Nilly."

Next was a completely black cat in purple robes and gold jewelry. "Ebony was an exceptionally gifted magician, while focused and disciplined she knew when to let her hair down. She…was the one who first introduced me to the Chao, I never would have made a chao garden at our old home if it wasn't for her."

"Chao…" Cheese and Chocola said together.

Vanilla moved on to a Robian squirrel. "Shorty or Shortfuse as we came to call him was roboticized in those first days, but something went 'wrong' with it causing him to keep his free will. The rest of us said it was because he was too stubborn to be controlled, he had a hair-trigger temper but usually pointed it in the right direction and he was fiercely loyal."

As Vanilla came to the grey rabbit the tears she was holding back flowed freely now. "J-J-Johnny Lightfoot was our leader, our anchor and the glue that held us together…" she stopped and just sobbed.

"Mother are you ok?" Cream concerned. "We can stop now…"

Vanilla got a hold of herself, but tears were still coming. "I'm sorry but this is very important, especially for you Cream. Johnny was also my heart, my soul, the one love of my life…" Vanilla moved the second photo in front of the first. The group was the same but with two noticeable differences, Johnny and Vanilla had wedding rings on their fingers and together they held a small baby rabbit. "Cream…Johnny was your father."

Cream began to get misty eyed. "F-father…? I…I always wondered, but I could tell. Something about him made you so sad."

Vanilla looked off to the distant sky. "There was something about him when we met, brave, always willing to lend a hand, noble to a fault I just felt myself drawn, to him and his cause. Some said he was a bland goody two-shoes with no sense of fun, but I got to know him better than anyone and I knew he had passion but never let it control him. When we got married, with our friends there for the ceremony we so happy, then our wedding night…" Suddenly Vanilla's face was more like the sultry rabbit in the first photo. "I learned that despite what others would say Johnny Lightfoot was not dull."

Cream practically turned red. "M-mother! I'm not sure I should be hearing this!"

Vanilla also blushed. "Oh sorry, it's just I was remembering about the wonderful thing that eventually led to you. I tried not to think about your father or the others for so long, but I guess I needed tell you as much as you needed to hear. Cream, what you have done with the Freedom Fighters, your father would have been so proud."

Tails then noticed something. "Wait there were six of you and you brought five flowers, does that mean…?"

Vanilla looked back at the photo. "Yes, I'm the only member of the Wild Bunch left."

Cream was crying freely. "H-how did Father…?"

Vanilla had look of disgust along with her tears. "Robotnick wasn't our only enemy, this man who called himself Grimer, an Overlander scientist whose own experiments mutated his body and twisted his mind, it seemed like we had stop him just as often. Four years before Robotnick was defeated, a few months after you were born Cream, Johnny let me go have a night out with the girls while he watched you. I left Tekno and Ebony to powder my nose and Grimer kidnapped me and took me to his base. He had finally perfected a formula he was obsessed with, a gas that could mutate anyone who breathed it and produced enough of it to cover the whole of Mobius.

"Naturally the Wild Bunch found out and tried to put a stop to it, but Grimer wanted revenge before he fulfilled his insane dream of turning every non-roboticized lifeform into horrific monsters. So Grimer drew them in and just when Johnny found my cell… Grimer flooded it with the gas."

"Oh, my stars," said Bunnie.

Vanilla looked ashamed. "My, my mind and body became twisted, a savage beast that only vaguely resembled or thought like me. I tried to hurt, kill my friends while they tried to administer the antidote managed to make. Not even Shorty's robotic strength or Ebony's most powerful spells could slow me down. But Johnny did the one thing that did slow me down enough for Porker to inject me with the antidote, something that if it was any other time, I would have made him sleep on the couch for a month at least for doing, he brought our baby to Grimer's base."

"I was there?" asked Cream.

Vanilla nodded. "I don't know what it was you recognized about me, maybe it was my smell or pure instinct, but you reached out for me as you cried. I, remembered you, didn't want to hurt you. Once I was back to normal, I held you tight for fear of what I might have done to you. Grimer was furious, set his gas to be dispersed and cover Mobius in hours. I was so weak from the antidote, as soon we found Grimer your father shoved me into an escape pod and locked it.

"Grimer used his gas on himself turning into a hulking abomination, as tired as they were from fighting me, I quickly knew that they'd couldn't straight up beat him. But together they managed to set the base to blow, destroying the gas and managed to hold the Grimer monster off. Johnny spoke to me just before he launched the pod, said my mission now was to make sure our daughter grew up to be happy and healthy, that from what he heard about you Sonic that you would take care of the rest."

Sonic looked down at his shoes. "Sounds like he was a great guy, I wish we could have met."

"As the escape pod flew off all I could hear was Grimer screaming about 'his beautiful creation'. The way the reactor blew, there was no way any of them could have survived. I cried so much, never wanted to fight ever again, I also remembered my mission and made that the focus of my life."

"Father he loved both us, didn't he?" asked Cream.

"With all his heart, there was so much he wanted to do with you. Give you piggy back rides, help you with school work, read you bedtime stories, when I did those things with you, I always imagined that he was with us in spirit."

Vanilla laid the flowers at the monument's base. "Porker, Shorty, Ebony, Tekno…Johnny…thank you, for everything."

Sally gave a spare flower she had to Cream who laid it down at the monument. "Father I wish I could have known you. But thank you, thank you so much."

Suddenly Sally's communicator went off. "Princess, I need you to get the Freedom Fighters to the Sky Patrol immediately!" Chuck said from the other end.

Sally answered the device. "What's wrong?"

"Robotnick made his move, he's attacked GUN Headquarters! I'm going to patch us into a briefing between the base and the Letter of Gabriel at the Sky Patrol's briefing room. They've agreed to wait until you arrive to start but it'd be best not to dawdle."

"Do they need help?"

"I'm afraid the attack's already over, there seems to only be minor injuries thankfully, but Viktor managed to escape with Snively and two Chaos Emeralds, he's also taken Hope Kintobor hostage."

"We're on our way!" Sally shut the communicator off and turned to her team. "Looks like our Remembrance Day plans will have to wait, we must try use this info to figure out Viktor's next move before Naugus and Charlemagne's duel. Are you with me?"

"As if you have to ask," said Sonic.

"Till the very end!" said Tails.

"Oui!" said Antione.

"Anytime Sugah!" cried Bunnie.

"That jerk won't know what hit him!" said Amy.

"Let's throw a wrench into his scheme!" said Rotor.

"Um-hm!" Big nodded.

"…It's what Mother and Father would do!" said Cream. "I'm not going to let them down!"

"Chao!" went Cheese.

Vanilla smiled. "As sweet as you are it's times like this that remind me you are your father's daughter."

"Thank you, Vanilla," said Sally. "Listen there's going to be a Freedom Fighter reunion this afternoon and after hearing your story I think you should be there to represent the Wild Bunch. We'll try to make it ourselves."

Vanilla gasped but then gave a short bow. "It would be my honor Princess."

"Come on we're wasting time!" said Sonic. "Let's move!"

The Blue Blur then lived up to his name and speed off.

* * *

Minutes later the Freedom Fighters were gathered around table in the Sky Patrol's conference room. The table's holographic projector shown two images, one was of GUN commander Abraham Tower the other was Shadow and Rouge sitting on a doctor's examination table. Shadow seemed to be a bit shaky in his movements.

"Thank you joining us Princess," said Commander Tower. "I'm sorry your Remembrance Day had to be interrupted but we appreciate whatever you can tell us about this 'Viktor Robotnick'."

"The security of the Republic is at stake," said Sally. "And we won't abandon our allies in the United Federation."

"Very well, agents Shadow and Rouge, I heard that you both went through a tough time, but it is important that you give us that report."

"Thank you, commander," said Rouge. "At 0700 hours local time Guardian Mountain was attacked by Robotnick's ship, the Colossus and several new models of swat bot."

A new image appeared of the four Neo Swat models.

"Mister Perfect's been busy," said Sonic. "He must have had the plans for these bots made even before he got his new body."

"The new models were no match the three of us," said Shadow. "But he had a couple more aces up his sleeve. First was a new model of Metal Sonic,"

The image of the Swat Bots changed to that of Neo Metal Sonic. "Looks like the nastiest one yet," said Rotor. "So, he gave you a run for your money?"

"We probably would have got him to run but then came his second ace," said Rouge. "He had help from Regina Ferrum and some guys we've never seen before."

"Well Regina is in love with Snively," said Nicole. "But what about these newcomers?"

The image of Metal Sonic changed one more time to that of three Mobians and an elderly Overlander woman.

Tails bolted up from his seat. "No way! Witchcart, she's back!"

"Witchcart!?" said Commander Tower. "I remember telling my son and granddaughter stories about her, a witch that kidnaps unsuspecting children, but she's just an Overlander folktale. You say you've encountered her before son?"

Tails nodded. "It was while I was taking my submarine to figure out my place in the Freedom Fighters. At a place called Metal Island I came across a bunch of Badnicks that were forcing the population to dig up ruins, not taking them off to be roboticized. I investigated and found that Witchcart had used what I now realize was Magitek to control them. I had to fight off her and her Witchcarters; Falke Wolf, Bearenger and Carrotia; to set the people free. I managed to trick them into a trap I set and Witchcart begged me to forgive her…I was willing to let them go but it was a ruse to try to finish me off. I dodged her spell and it reflected off a nearby mirror and imprisoned her and the Witchcarters in crystal. I didn't want it to end that way but there was nothing I could do."

"Well it looks like someone or something got them out of their prison," said Sally. "We'll have to contact Metal Island and see if they can find any clues about how they escaped."

Commander Tower nodded. "You may continue Agent Rouge."

"Regina and Witchcart turned our own robots against us, including Omega, leaving a gap for Regina and Robotnick to infiltrate the base. It seems like Regina sent Hope to Witchcart while breaking Snively out of max security while Viktor and Metal Sonic destroyed out new Wildcat mech and took our Chaos Emeralds. Witchcart kidnapped Hope, I tried to stop her but…" Rouge shivered. "She did something to me, it was like she drained my youth away in seconds. If it weren't for Shadow…"

"I don't know how, but I had this sudden feeling it was a turning point for me," said Shadow. "So, I used my full power to try to undo the damage that was done to Rouge, it worked but it came at a cost for me. According the doctors here I used so much power I ended up damaging the Black Arms part of my DNA that kept me in a constant state. I'm no longer immortal, I've started to age like the rest of you and one day I will die."

"Shadow…" Rouge said with tears. "You did this for me, I… I never had anyone look out for me like that since my parents died. I…I can never repay you for this."

"What's done is done, that's all there is to it. The Colossus vanished off radar after that, now we have to find Viktor so we can get Hope back."

"Well if Viktor is gathering Chaos Emeralds then we'll have to be on guard," said Sally. "With the yellow emerald powering a special healing device at our hospital, the blue emerald kept secure by the council and Naugus in possession of the purple emerald three of Robotnick's targets are here in Freedom City. We'll have to get the city's defenses prepared."

Sonic became more keenly aware of the cyan emerald the Titans gave him he hid among his quills.

"Team Dark, I want you on the fastest transport you can get to here ASAP," said Commander Tower. "With the president coming for the accord signing the day after tomorrow and these emeralds in Robotnick's sights we have to make sure security is optimized."

"Understood," said Shadow. "We should get there after sunset your time."

"Something about zhis doesn't make sense," said Antione. "Both Eggman and Robotnick hated magic, Regina I can understand but why would Viktor ally himself with zhis Witchcart?"

"Viktor does have an inflated sense of himself but he's also a utilitarian," said Sally. "Anyone and anything he can use he will, the magic of others is nothing more than a tool he can use and if necessary, dispose of."

"Well between the city's own defenses, the Letter of Gabriel and all of the Freedom Fighters gathering here for the accord signing Robotnick will find Freedom City to be a much tougher nut to crack," said Tails. "Not only that with Lucian, Charlemagne and… Fiona, we have a good amount of magic on our side too."

"Not to mention me," said Amy. "Now me learning more about this potential they said I have is even more important. I'll going to my first magic lesson with Lucian as soon as we're done here."

"Just be careful," said Sonic. "Maybe not all Ixis magic is evil but a lot of it is so make sure he picks your lessons with that in mind."

Amy nodded.

"I guess all we can do for now is warn the city's defense force and wait," said Sally. "Once Team Dark gets here Commander Tower, I'd like you to meet with the council about setting up a defense strategy."

"You can count on it," said the Commander. "With that, this briefing is now adjourned."

The hologram turned off. "Well, I better check in on Nikki before the reunion," said Rotor. "Do my tusks look shiny enough? I don't want Sealia to think I'm a slob or something."

"You look great Mr. Rotor," said Cream. "I'm sure she'll be happy to see you."

"We'll we're going shopping," said Bunnie. "Like it or not Remembrance Day has some of the best sales and I think Sally-girl could use some retail therapy."

"But…" Sally said.

Antione waved a finger at her. "No buts! Except when you slept after being de-roboticized you've been going full tilt zince yesterday morning. Take some time to enjoy yourself, we think it'll refresh your mind and spirit."

The chipmunk sighed. "You're right, I was even up half the night getting what I knew into the report for the council. An hour or two before the reunion shouldn't hurt things, besides it's been a while since I had a new outfit."

The coyote nodded. "I'll be coming along," Antione said brushing his jacket. "I think I need zome variety, something other zhan uniforms."

Tails got up. "Well, I better get started on rebuilding the Tornado, again."

Big got up and slung his rod over his shoulder. Sonic turned to him with a nod. "Trying to see if you can catch a few before the reunion? Can't blame ya, I think I'll race through the streets for a bit and get the blood pumping."

As the Freedom Fighters left Sonic lingered a bit and pulled out his Chaos Emerald. _"On top of everything else I have to find the agent of some ancient force for these Chaos Titans. I wonder the vibes I was getting around Lucian, Fiona and Charlemagne, could it be that Charlie is this agent? And if he is just what is he planning?"_


	8. Reunions and Rumbles

Chapter 7

Reunions and Rumbles

Sonic was zipping through the streets occasionally checking the time. "_Alright, so Robotnick wants the Chaos Emeralds for some reason and I just happen to have one because of Chaos Titans said I'll need it to save my friends soon, who might be in danger because I have the emerald in the first place. For guys who are presenting themselves as some sort of advanced super beings I don't think they thought this all the way through."_

Sonic turned a corner and came back to New Spring Park. Now that it wasn't needed for a risky magic ritual, he could appreciate how nice it really looked. _"Well no use worrying about it now, what I need is to find something interesting before the reunion."_

Suddenly a warp ring appeared nearby and the Chaotix stepped out. "Ask and you shall receive," Sonic said with a grin. "I bet you guys are here for something interesting."

Knuckles reached his hand out to Sonic. "Well seeing as we were technically Freedom Fighters when I led the Resistance, we figured we'd come to this reunion. Besides right now we're just waiting on a hit in our search for Finitivus and Thrash."

Sonic took his hand. "If there's anything I can do to help just ask."

Knuckles sighed and looked away. "Sonic, I know it's probably way too late for this but… I'm sorry I didn't help you try to get Sally back when this whole mess began. If had helped you back then, maybe Julie and Saffron would be…"

"Probably still in the same predicament, there's no way to know for sure so no use in fretting over it. Besides Sal's back so as far as I'm concerned, we're cool."

"That's news to us," said Charmy. "It must have happened recently, we were out of contact for the last day."

Sonic chuckled. "Buddy, that's just the beginning, what say we swap what we were up to yesterday?"

A few minutes later…

"…And that's more or less the whole story."

"Robotnick clones, Ixis wizards, a plot from the future, duels for the throne, GUN HQ attacked, good thing you're a great runner because that was a marathon of excitement," said Vector.

"But perhaps part of it is something we can use," said Espio. "Fiona did run with the Destructix for a while, she could tell us what happened to Moebius and might help us find Finitivus."

"Doubt it," said Sonic. "According to Lucian she can't remember anything from her last trip there."

Still she might know hideouts the Destructix could still be using, along with Thrash," said Knuckles.

"I don't know," said Sonic. "I haven't talked to her since she was exposed or when she recovered from the hospital."

"Mighty, you and Ray knew her," said Liza. "I bet she'd be more willing to confide in the two of you."

Mighty shook his head. "It's not anything special. Yeah, we spent three years as in the same prison Robotnick threw us in, but we were never close. We were all kids at the time, couple of boys and a girl, we probably just thought the other had cooties or something."

"Or still think in Ray's case!" laughed Relic.

Rey huffed. "Hey, I'm only still a kid because that power stone skipped me five years to the future! And I don't think girls have cooties! I'm… just not interested in them yet."

"What about Matilda?"

Ray gagged. "Hey, she's practically a sister to me! I would never do that to Mighty!"

Mighty clenched a fist. "Tilly, Ray, Fiona…I was never strong enough to save any of you back then, I only have the power I do now because Mammoth Mogul thought he could use me later. Sure, I was able to save you Ray and together we reached Tilly but Fiona…I doubt she wants to see me, we'd be better off if you got Sally to ask for us."

"Mighty, you shouldn't beat yourself up over what you failed to do," said Relic. "But if it makes you uncomfortable…"

"No, there's no harm in trying," Mighty turned to Sonic. "Think Sally could set up a meeting?"

Sonic took out a communicator. "Hang on, I'll ask. Still a whole lot's going on today, you might have to wait until tomorrow." Sonic turned the Communicator on. "Hey Sal, got a moment?"

* * *

Antione had stepped out of the dressing booth, now wearing a double bandoleer, red boots and gloves and a red handkerchief around his neck. "Well what do you think?" he asked Bunnie and Sally.

"Dashing," said Sally.

Bunnie seemed to be more focused on her husband's more exposed physique than the clothes themselves. "Yeah, you look good. Is it getting hot in here?"

Antione frowned. "I see, if it is too distracting, I guess I should put it all back…"

"No!" Bunnie said waving her hands. "No,no,no, I can control maself, a day or two I probably won't even notice!"

Sally giggled. "You were right, I really needed some time to not think about what else could go wrong."

"Ok, Sally girl try out your new duds on!"

Sally went into the dressing room, walked into an empty booth and closed the curtain. She laid down the outfit she picked up, a black top and a pair of black shorts, and looked herself in the mirror. "_Maybe if I mixed them with my jacket and boots, it would different but still close to what I'm used to."_

Sally took off her jacket vest first them bent down to take off her boots. She noticed a white fingerless glove that had a square hole cut into the back of the hand and looked long enough to almost reach the elbow. _"Funny, I wanted to add gloves but didn't find a pair I liked."_

"Excuse me," came a voice from the next booth. I hung a glove over the wall, but it fell over can you pass it under here?"

Sally picked the glove up. "Sure, here you…go."

Sally was now looking straight into the face of the treacherous vixen who restored her to normal just yesterday and last saw staring blankly into space and from her expression the fox was just as surprised to see her.

"Uh…thanks?" Fiona said as she took the glove back.

Both girls then got up and went back to what they were doing but the silence quickly got to Sally. "… Thank you for what you did for me back there. I'm surprised that you still aren't resting, let alone just out shopping."

"…It was Mom's idea. After everything she thought it would be something nice to do together as girls, said I could use an emotional pick-me-up."

Sally had one boot off. "Let me guess, retail therapy? Bunnie came up with the same prescription for me."

"Yeah, roboticized for about a year. I actually didn't believe it until I came out of that hospital with Master Charlemagne and saw it with my own eyes."

"Fiona…"

"Let me just get this out of the way now. I don't expect anyone to forgive me or let me back into the Freedom Fighters. I don't even want it, I'm content with where I am."

"Awaiting trial?"

"I meant being an Ixis Witch, the parts of my life where I was prisoner, a thief, a Freedom Fighter and a villain are in my past and I want to focus on the present from now on. I'm also a full Ixis Witch surprisingly, Master said I passed my test with flying colors."

"Congratulations I guess," Sally now had the other boot off and took a moment to look at her unclothed figure in the mirror.

"Honestly, I thought I blew it at first. Being in control of your emotions is Ixis Magik 101, putting my own lifeforce into the spell because I couldn't put my feelings about you aside, talk about dumb."

Sally picked up the shorts. "Lucian said you might stay that way or have even died. Your parents being there must have been a comfort to you."

"I think it was the only reason I was able to come back at all, so many years of hope and anger finally answered, it was like a signal flare."

Sally looked at herself in the shorts and gave an affirmative nod in the mirror after making sure her tail had free movement. "So, what do you plan to do now?"

"Never thought about it really. After my parents' cherry bombs went off, I officially hit rock bottom, then Master Charlemagne threw me an escape ladder. He said everything I went through all the hardships and bad decisions were just stepping stones to a destiny I was meant to fulfill and becoming an Ixis Witch was the next step. I guess I'll just have to see what that destiny is."

"I bet you probably don't think it involves jail time." Sally began to put on the top.

"As long as I can reach the earth, I'd be ok with it. You can't imagine the feeling of contentment I get communing with the spirit of the planet, it even helped me get over my claustrophobia. It's so ancient yet still growing and I think it likes ice cream sundaes for some reason?"

Sally couldn't help but laugh. "That would be Chip, Sonic can fill you in on him, I never actually met the little guy sadly."

"Well in any case I was actually in prison this morning, as a visitor."

Sally finished pulling the top on and felt that something was missing. "Visiting who?"

"Nic the Weasel, she and the Hooligans are prisoners there, captured after Sonic destroyed Heavy Magician. Before I joined the Freedom Fighters but after the incident with Quantum Dial, Nic and me went on this big heist together, a museum job. Things started going south and Nic got us to split up to avoid getting caught, but she never showed up at the rendezvous and I found she took the entire haul and replaced my share with junk. I couldn't believe it, I kept her from getting snagged into Robotnick's prison, she got me used to the outside world again, I thought of her like a big sister and she betrayed me.

"Cutting ties with her was another reason I joined, but I was on edge ever since, I could never fully trust anyone after that. Once I found out about the arrangement you made for me, I knew to really move on I had to hear her side of things. She said she could see my doubts and wanted to break things off before I turned her in to join the good guys. But then she said she was sorry, that abandoning me was the biggest mistake she ever made and getting caught was the best thing that ever happened to her. She's even patching things up with Nack about their jerk of a father, trying to get the Hooligans to at least not be as much of bad guys as they had been. It feels like a massive weight has been lifted off my shoulders."

Sally put the vest on and closed it. It didn't look right to her, so she opened it again, the combination with the top was perfect. "You really do regret the bad things you've done, don't you?"

"Yeah, I guess I do, especially how I treated Tails. I thought my family abandoned me and it turned out I still had more family than I realized. Worst part was the one family member trying to reach out to me most I used to get back at Sonic after I found out he only dated me for his sake."

Sally was pulling up one of her boots. "You found out about that?"

"I overhead Sonic saying it to you, he still had a thing for you and was trying to keep you from getting jealous. On top of the fact that you were probably going to throw me out any day I found out my boyfriend only dated me to keep his buddy from getting hurt. With Scourge lavishing attention on me, well I decided then and there I'd never let anyone turn against me first ever again."

Sally sighed as she finished putting the other boot on. "I… let things get personal, Sonic was seeing you and I got jealous. Not only that I felt like I put the team at risk for not checking you more thoroughly and I let that blind me to the possibility that you were trying to turn over a new leaf."

"Doesn't excuse a thing I did; you were right I was never a real Freedom Fighter."

"I made a similar accusation to someone else I thought I could trust, someone I lumped in with you. He just threw it back in my face, said I was just as much a traitor as he was. I've done a lot of questionable things too, a lot of what happened during the Phantom Ruby War could be laid at my feet, but Sonic and the others were willing to let it go. That got me to realize that forgiveness is just much for the one doing the forgiving, and if you're really being sincere, then I don't see why we can't put this whole thing behind us."

Sally heard a sniffle. "Thank you, I mean it."

Sally came out of the dressing booth. Fiona did so soon after. Her outfit looked like something of a cross between the body suit she wore as a freedom fighter and the skimpy outfit she wore with Scourge. Orange boots with a steel toe that went up near the knee, the white glove Sally saw earlier along with its twin, orange shorts stopped half way down the thigh and a sleeveless orange and white top that stopped just below the bustline giving a good view of her stomach. She had changed her hair again falling back to the top of her neck with a large bang near her right eye all held in place by that same yellow bow between her ears. "Nice look for you," she said.

"You too," Sally replied. "Listen, there's going to be a Freedom Fighter reunion in about an hour and if you really want to apologize to everyone, I think that would be the best place to do it."

"You don't think I'd spoil the mood?"

"It wouldn't be the first time we had to heal rifts between us. Heck between the brainboxes and the times a lot of us were roboticized, brainwashed, blackmailed or undercover it seems you practically have to go dark side at least once before you're considered a real Freedom Fighter."

Sally's communicator beeped. "Hey Sal, got a moment?" Sonic said from the other side.

Sally used the device. "Sonic, what's going on?"

"I just ran into the Chaotix, they heard about Fiona and want to ask her about where her Destructix buddies might be holding up. If she's serious about giving being a good guy another shot, then it'll only help her chances with the judge."

"Actually, I have her right here I'll put her on."

Sally gave the communicator to Fiona. "I'm not sure how much help I can be really. During the Phantom Ruby War, Master Charlemagne, Lucian and I used those spots as temporary shelters. But with the Destructix under Infinite's thumb we had to keep destroying them so Eggman couldn't track us down, there's probably only one or two left and even that's iffy."

"Good, less work for them. Also, if you can remember what happened on Moebius it might be helpful for tracking down Finitivus, seems like something bad happened there, potentially end of the world bad."

Fiona clutched her head. "I… can't it's like something is keeping me from remembering. I honestly think I prefer it this way."

"Well you better arrange a meeting about the spots you didn't use. The Chaotix will be here all day for the reunion."

Sally took the communicator back. "I'll make sure she's there, she wants to apologize to everyone anyway."

"You had doubts about Fiona yesterday now you're all chummy with each other what gives?"

"Retail therapy, it's not a wonder cure but it can be surprisingly effective sometimes."

"Girls…" Sonic grumbled as he cut the line.

"Well that settles it, you're coming. I better tell Antione and Bunnie, ease them into it, you should probably let your parents know where you're going next."

"I will," said Fiona. "I'll also tell aunt Rosemary and uncle Amadeus, still feels weird saying that, that I'll be apologizing to my cousin, he probably feels more awkward about it than I do."

As they left the dressing room Sally, breathed a sigh of relief. _"If Charlemagne wins the duel and keeps to his word today might turn out actually be good."_

* * *

Sonic and the Chaotix came up to the conference hall were the big reunion was supposed to take place. "Hope we made it early," said Vector. "They always run out of seven-layer dip at these things."

"I'm sure there'll be plenty of food Vector," said Charmy.

"It's not that big a deal," said Sonic. "Just a chance for Freedom Fighters from all over to finally get to know each other without having to worry about if their homes are going to be safe."

As he opened the doors the response was immediate.

"SONIC!"

All around Freedom Fighters teams from the world over Sonic had met in the past had were now in one place, many of them meeting each other for the first time since the attack on the Xorda's quantum dial or in some cases for the very first time.

"The guest 'o honor," Walt Wallaby said.

"Tis' wouldn't be the same without thou," Rob o' the Hedge said with a tip of his recently restored crown.

"Land or sea you always pull through," said Ray the Manta from a tank on one side of the room.

"And have inspired all of us to give our best as well," said Guntiver. "We wouldn't have gotten nearly as far as we did without you."

Sonic stepped into the middle of the room. "Guys, I don't deserve all the credit. Well maybe most of the credit…" Everyone laughed at the joke. "But it was a team effort, all our teams. It was because of all of us that Mobius is now free because of us that it will now continue to be free."

"Truer words were never spoken," Sally said as she came into the room followed by Antione and Bunnie. "Our long struggle has created a bond between all of us and that is why we're here today, to celebrate that bond. I know by now you've probably have heard of an unexpected development that may have critical ramifications on the Republic of Acorn. Whatever the result it won't change who we are or what we do, we'll keep up the fight no matter what."

The crowd clapped with enthusiasm but for some reason it felt off to Sonic.

"Now before we go back to the party, I have a couple things to bring to your attention. First, we have the sole survivor of one the first Freedom Fighter divisions with us. Vanilla and the Wild Bunch had sacrificed much for sakes of others, including our youngest member and Vanilla's own daughter Cream. If Vanilla is willing, I encourage you to listen to the stories she has of the friends and loved ones she made back then."

The crowd clapped as Vanilla politely curtsied.

"Secondly, there's someone here you probably heard had done me a great service recently, despite having become disillusioned with our cause and working against us. She since decided to move on to a different sort of life and wishes to offer her apologies for her misdeeds, and even though most of you have never met her I strongly encourage those who have to listen," Sonic noticed her gaze settle on Tails. "I think you'll find her remorse is genuine."

Sonic noticed Fiona of in a corner and made a mental note to see her.

"That's all I have in the way of announcements. Now get back to the festivities!"

As Sonic began to head over to Sally, a cry broke from the Artic Freedom Fighters.

"Rotor!"

"Sealia!" The walrus and seal both gave each other a big hug. "I'm so glad to see you again, how's everyone at home?"

"Your mom and little brother are doing fine and let me just say thank you for getting me to have the operation, it helped everyone ease into what happened to me."

"Don't give it a second thought, as long as you're ok with you I'm perfectly happy."

Just then a small display on Rotor's belt cried out. "Mama, mama!"

"What was that?" Sealia asked.

Rotor shown the display to Sealia as Nikki smiled back from it. "It's an AI program I modeled after Nicole, but since it's learning on its own and hasn't been active for very long, she's pretty much a very intelligent baby. Unfortunately, because of a little teasing I did to Nicole and her attempt to get one back on me Nikki here has got it into her head that you're her mother. Not that it's going to be permanent! I just don't want to clear her memories until necessary."

Sealia smiled. "Well, I guess I don't mind if she wants to call me mom for now."

"Mama! Mama! Pway with me!"

After giving the scene a chuckle Sonic turned back to Sally and noticed Ken Khan approach her with Dulcy, who was now wearing a fancy blue silk gown and a phoenix crown.

"It's good to see you again princess," Dulcy said with a bow, but she went a little too far and the crown the crown fell off her head as Sonic caught it in a half second.

"It's great to see you too," Sonic said handing the crown back. "Empress Dulcy."

Dulcy sighed as she put the crown back on. "Still getting used to it, my grandfather may have been the last emperor of the Dragon Kingdom but the falling out my father had with him over my mother means I still know next to nothing about this empress stuff. I'm kind of jealous of you Sally, at least you had enough of a royal upbringing to know what it was you lost, the fighting that broke out between the eastern and western dragons meant I had to find out from a hermit in the mountains. Reunifying the clans to protect the people and while mending the rift that formed between the east and west has been a clawful, but I'm glad I found a bunch of new friends who were willing to help me."

"So, I've heard," said Sally before turning to Ken Khan. "I'm glad I didn't end up killing you."

Ken smirked. "As if something like getting a tree to fall on me would do that. Still quite the ride, after that I came across Dulcy and we found her destiny, started reforming the Dragon Kingdom fighters, learning my family got the name Khan from a title one of my ancestors earned while waking up two other Khan from a five hundred year slumber and all of that was BEFORE the Phantom Ruby War."

"Congrats on taking down Heavy Shinobi by the way."

"It was a team effort, speaking of which you should probably meet them." Ken gave a whistle and a few Mobians gathered.

Dulcy first gestured to a white tigress with red bandana, black pants and a legionzed tail who then bowed. "This is Jian, who is also serving the Kingdom as the new Bride of Conquering Storms." Next was an orange pheasant girl wearing a yellow oriental dress. "Here is Cinder." Next was a dark green female turtle with a black shell. "Bunker." Another turtle, this one a tall male a red shell and a crescent spade. "Lang Khan and…" Dulcy had moved to an empty space.

Ken groaned. "Alright where's Zhao?"

"Hey, don't hog all the dip!" Sonic heard Vector yell.

"Hog, hahaha!" laughed a brown boar with a metal rake slung over his back. "That's a good one! I l love what you've done with jokes and food in the last five hundred years!"

"Zhao Khan!" Ken yelled as he approached the boar. "I called you to meet the Princess and Sonic, why didn't you come?!"

"Hey, I've been a Khan a lot longer than you have," Zhao said taking a bite out of a slice of pizza. "You're only in charge because the empress gave you your title personally."

"Zhao please," Dulcy said. "Leave some for everyone else and you and Ken had better not get into one of your fights."

The Boar patted his belly and laughed. "Ok, I wouldn't want to ruin a party after all!"

Vector gave a nod "Thanks your majesty," he then turned to Sonic. "Oh, Espio said to meet up with him. Something about an old friend of his wanted to introduce you to his students."

"Alright I'll see what he wants," Sonic went through the crowd greeting those who called to him and eventually spotted three chameleons, Espio, Liza and blue chameleon in a red beret who were in a conversation. "You seem awfully chatty for a dead man Valdez."

Espio nodded in Sonic's direction. "He managed to survive our last encounter when he and Liza were roboticized and spent most of that time observing the general population for the Bride of Constant Vigil."

"It was mostly meant as a means for me to try to recover from what I did during that time," said Valdez. But between that and the Royal Secret Service falling apart I went on voyage back to ask to be relieved of further duty. I got lost and wound up on a place called Malada Island, a few of the young people there formed their Freedom Fighter division but were completely disorganized. I helped to get them to balance their strengths and together we kicked the DEL out of the Sol Islands. It made me realize that I still had a job to do and once I get back to the clan, I'm going to focus on training the next generation."

"I actually know someone from Malada," said Sonic. "Mind if I ask your team about him, I think he'd appreciate knowing how they're doing."

"That's why I asked for you, they all really want to meet you." Valdez waved over to a group of who came over, most of them looking around fifteen years old.

"Oh, my gosh it's really you!" said a young Lemur woman with a yellow vest as she extended her tail like an extra arm which Sonic shook. "I'm Tangle, huge fan!"

Badger girl wearing only a necklace, some shiny bracelets, and a rope belt with a boomerang hanging from it began to sniff at Sonic then smiled. "Like sweat and Hibiscus, I knew it! I'm Sticks, I don't like the city, but this is WAY worth it!"

A male Cheetah with a sweatband extended his hand. "I'm Kyle and even though I know you'd kick my butt it would be an honor to race you!"

A ruby throated hummingbird kid kept darting around Sonic like he couldn't keep still. "IsittruethatyourquillscancutthoughanythingifsoitmustbereallyhardtosleepinabedunlessyousleeponyourstomachonceIcouldn'tsleepbecauseIdranktoomuchcoconutmilkandhadtokeepgoingtothebathroom…"

Sticks grabbed the bird's beak as he kept trying to talk a mile a minute, after a few seconds though he took the hint and stopped.

"This is Zip," said Tangle. "We often joke that only thing on Mobius faster than your feet is his mouth."

"You might not be wrong," Sonic said eliciting a laugh from the group. He then noticed a female wolf surrounded by wisps with blonde hair, a black leotard, a rifle like wispon and mask with a scope on it she quickly slid over her face when he noticed her. "Come on what's your name?

The wolf looked over in his direction. "Whisper." She answered very quietly.

"I'm sorry I didn't catch that."

"My name is Whisper."

"Whisper huh, is there any reason you're being so quiet?"

"She's very shy," said Kyle. "That's why she preferred being our sniper, but she was just as excited at meeting The Hero of Mobius as the rest of us."

Well I'm glad to meet you guys, Lucian would probably be happy to know you've done such a great job."

"Lucian the Tenrec?" asked Sticks. "We haven't seen him in years!"

"I saw a tenrec with Amy while she was showing off some magic tricks, she said she's been learning," said Liza.

"Well that settles it," said Sonic. "You should catch up with him, isn't that what reunions are for? Shouldn't be that hard to find him and Amy."

"This has been the best Remembrance Day I've ever had," said Tangle. "It sure will be nice to see the little guy again."

As the Malada Freedom Fighters went off Sonic followed with a confused expression. _"Little guy?"_

* * *

Blaze and Marine had been meeting up with members of the Resistance when they spotted a familiar figure. "Hey Silver!" Marine called out.

Silver at first tried to ignore them but quickly realized that wouldn't work. {Gold, Blaze is here. It's too soon what should I do?}

{Just treat her as if you still didn't remember she was part of our time. With any luck she'll be out of our way while we do our work then we can recruit her once all of today's critical moments have passed.}

"Hey Silver, why the cold shoulder mate?" Marine asked again.

"Uh, I was talking with the Secret Freedom Fighters about…something secret."

"Well be sure to spare some time for us," said Blaze. "I'm sorry I haven't kept in contact as much as I wanted, even with the Phantom Ruby War over making sure the people of the Sol Islands are adjusting to having to live in this new dimension takes up a lot of time."

"Any word on Doctor Nega yet?"

Blaze nodded. "One of our fishermen overheard him say he was going to return to the No Zone since his forces were starting to get pushed back there. With any luck the Zone Cops have already locked him up for good."

"And if he's not I still got that zip line from our time in the Resistance to take care of 'em" bragged Marine.

Blaze sighed. "Marine you were brainboxed in the first place because of overconfidence like that. You must learn a little humility, or it could lead to something not so easily fixed."

Marine sighed. "Alright princess I'll behave."

"So, your parents were royalty too?" Silver asked thinking it would help clear things up later.

Blaze looked away with a frown. "I wouldn't know, I never knew my parents. I was found washed up on the beach as a child, I couldn't remember anything before that, so I was brought before Sol Emeralds. The priests found I had a natural talent with fire and the emeralds chose me to be their guardian, after a couple years of training I was named princess and high priestess. But I often wondered where I came from, but I guess now that we're all part of the Prime Zone I may never learn my true origins…"

"I'm sure you'll find out some day!" Marine cheerfully. "As sure as I'm a captian!"

"Yeah anything can happen," said Silver. _"You'll learn very soon, but like me and Gold you'll wish you hadn't."_

Marine gestured to the center of the room. "Hey, what's that commotion?"

A crowd had gathered as what looked like Amy and a copy of her were showing off, one was playing a flute made of light while the other was addressing the crowd. "This spell is called Split Image, the most advanced thing I've learned so far. It not only lets me make a copy of myself, but I can see and hear whatever she does, and she can do whatever I want just by thinking about it, even other spells like Mystic Melody."

"I don't think either of us have been able to do that," Fiona said to Lucian.

"Master says her elemental affinity is towards Chaos Energy itself, or The Aether as it was once known among ancient mages," Lucian said with a smile. "She's not that good at doing any elemental spells but anything not directly involved with them she has an amazing aptitude for. Amy has picked more spells in three hours than we had in three days."

"This is really remarkable," said Sally. "Viktor had better watch out for you!"

Amy dispelled the double. "Thank you, I started with manifesting, or conjuring, things other than my hammer and it felt so easy I just kept going! Which reminds me I have present for you!"

Amy took out a pair of slender white gloves that each had a blue ring on the wrist. "They're beautiful, I was hoping to add some gloves to my new look." Sally slipped the gloves on. "The way they breathe, it hardly feels like I'm wearing them."

"I'm glad you like them, by the way remember those arm blades you had when you were roboticized?"

Sally sighed. "Yes, but why is that…!" suddenly a pair of blades the length of her forearm appeared from the blue rings at her wrist. "What the heck?!"

"I call them ring blades, I wanted to give you something to defend yourself with if you get into a tight spot and thought it should be something you were familiar with. If you don't feel comfortable with them though…"

"No, I can handle it, that was very thoughtful of you. But do have one question." Sally moved the blades around carefully. "How do I turn them off?"

Amy blushed. "Oh sorry! You will them away to make the blades vanish and will them to be there to bring them back."

Sally looked at the ring blades and they vanished. "I mean it though thank you, given the number of times I've been captured or cornered, it'd be nice to do something about it so Sonic can focus on something else."

Suddenly Zip was right next to Lucian. "WowyougotbighowdidyoudoitIwanttobebigtoounlessitinvolveseatingbeetsIhatebeetsifyougotbigbydrinkingnectarthoughcanyoutellmehowIvebeendoingitwrongohandwhoisthisgirlshelookscute."

Amy was wide eyed. "Lucian who is that and what did he just say?"

Before he could answer Sonic and the rest of the Malada Freedom Fighters came up. "Wait, that's Lucian?" asked Kyle.

"Lucian, what happened to you?" asked Whisper.

Sticks growled as she drew her boomerang. "That's not Lucian, it's a Rikalbang! It's here to take all our mangos!"

"You guys all made it here?" Lucian asked. "Listen I can explain…"

"Wait," Sonic asked confused. "What is going here? Lucian told us the whole story. He came from Malada like you guys, lost his parents to one of Robutnick's sea mines when he started to take over the world then later Charlemagne came and took him to be his apprentice."

"Is this true?" asked Valdez. "I came a long time after that, so you better fill us in."

"That's all true but it still doesn't make sense," said Tangle. "When he lost his parents…Lucian was still a baby, that Overlander came and took him in when he was five! Now he looks older than us, but he should be Zip's age!"

Everyone around gasped.

"That's news to me," said Fiona.

"This is the second time you've been caught lying Lucian," said Sally. "With Fiona I understand you were trying to keep a promise but this not something that's so easily brushed aside. You better explain yourself."

Lucian growled. "ALRIGHT IT'S TRUE! I'M NOT EIGHTEEN, I'M REALLY TWELVE!" After a sudden silence he fell to his knees and continued. "About three years ago, Master Charlemagne's illness started getting worse. Even as stubborn as he could be, he knew he wouldn't be able to use his powers as he once did and if someone needed his help his strength could fail when they both needed it most. So, he asked if he could magically age me to the point where I could actively begin my training, that thought of being like Sonic and how much trust master put in me, I jumped at the chance. Even after the spell it took a while before my mind started catching up with my body, I… didn't want Amy to think I was just some little kid playing pretend."

Amy picked Lucian up. "Why would you think that?"

"Even with no formal training you were able to absorb so much of the Ring of Acorn's power. A smart and mature girl like you…"

"You didn't know? That thing with the Ring of Acrons happened because I wished for the ring to make me older, so I could be a Freedom Fighter. Lucian I'm twelve too! If neither of those things happened, we'd both still be kids!"

Lucian was wide eyed. "You too!? Why, why didn't Master Charlemagne tell me?"

"That's a good question," said Sonic. "Yes, everything that's been happening with you, Fiona and Charlie on their own is explainable, but taken all together there are too many coincidences. The King of the Overlanders becoming an Ixis Wizard, him just happening to wash up on some distant island with a kid with precognition and magical potential who just happens to bear a surface resemblance to yours truly. Him aging you up the same year Amy was, Fiona just happening to walk into a saloon her long lost parents ran, him sending you to Sand Blast City just in the nick of time to save Fiona from getting blown to bits. You, getting that vision to come help us, him risking Fiona's life to save Sally just when her folks would be here to make sure she'd make a speedy recovery.

"When you get down to it, we have someone you could say was Amy's perfect match if she let me and Sally be a couple, Fiona pulling off the one thing that would dispel any doubts about her repentance. And then there's Charlie himself, if he fixed up Sally there'd be no way he'd be in good enough shape for his duel with Naugus after curing King Max and my dad. It's like everything is just fitting into place for him."

"What are you saying?" asked Sally. "That Charlemagne prearranged all of this?"

"But that would mean he'd have had to have known about somethings like me coming back to Mobius beforehand!" said Fiona. "This doesn't hold water! You are saying I should doubt the man who got me to reopen my heart to others, to trust again because you think Lucian and Amy are TOO perfect for each other?! This goes way beyond you dating me just to keep your little buddy from getting hurt!"

Sonic cringed. "You…knew about that?"

"I've already forgiven you, but this is still too much to be arranged by one man!"

"Maybe it isn't a plot," said Amy. "Maybe it's just destiny."

Sonic grumbled. "Sorry Amy, not to discount your fortune telling but I've always thought our destinies come from our own choices."

"Look there's no point in arguing about it now," said Sally. "We have to remember that Robotnick is the real threat and we all have to work together to stop him. Right everyone?" Sally was met by silence for a few seconds. "Guys?"

"Rotor," Sealia said to the walrus next to her. "You haven't told her yet?"

"Told her what yet?" asked Bunnie.

"I thought we'd be putting it on hold," said Rotor. "Now that there's a third robotnick out there…"

"Mon Aimee we still don't know what you're getting at," said Antione.

"I'll say it," Elias said as he stepped away from Larry, Lyco and Leeta. "Sally there was another reason for this reunion, once the Accord is signed the day after tomorrow… every Freedom Fighter division will be disbanded, permanently. Everyone wanted one last hurrah before it happened."

"What?!" Sally marched up to the middle of the group. "You're all just giving up now?! With Robotnick out there…"

"No one knew about Viktor until yesterday, most of the rebuilding efforts are finished, it seemed like the world didn't need Freedom Fighters anymore."

"And it's not like all of us are giving up the fight," said Barby Koala as she pumped a fist that included a legionized barb. "The Accord is letting all the Mobian nations contribute to GUN as a peacekeeping force in both funds and personnel. A lot of us aren't quitting, just continuing under a different uniform and flag."

"But as big as GUN is it takes a while to mobilize! One of the Freedom Fighter's greatest strengths is our ability to organize and respond to problems quickly!"

"The council disagreed, they passed a measure to defund any future expenditures for the Freedom Fighters," said Elias. "I told them it was a mistake, I wanted to vote against it, but I can only do that in the event of a tie and the measure passed with only one dissent."

"Let me guess," said Sonic. "My mom."

"Actually, it was Pythagoras."

"My mom's ok with this?!"

"Mars made a very convincing argument. You know what he called the Freedom Fighters? Child soldiers! That you were all pulled into this far younger than you should have ever been and that it's warped what you think life is supposed to be like. He said it was time all of you…all of us, should grow up."

"He's…not completely wrong," said Lupe as she stepped forward. "When Lobo and I were brainboxed our children managed to escape; Marcos, Maria, Ariel, Athena they worked with the Resistance to get us back even while we were trying to hunt them down. My biggest regret is not what that thing made me do but because I became a Freedom Fighter so they wouldn't have to fight, and they all ended up fighting anyway. I wouldn't have traded my time as a Freedom Fighter for anything, but I knew when I had to move on, none of us started this wanting it to go on forever."

"We're not saying we all have to do this for the rest of our lives!" said Sally. "But now is not the time to disband! Viktor is out there and probably planning on attacking Freedom City as we speak! Once He's captured…"

"Then what about the next bad guy?!" Amy suddenly shouted. "It was supposed to over when Ivo Robotnick was beaten but it wasn't, you all tried to move on and become Freedom Builders but had to go back to fighting anyway! I…I spent so much time wanting to be a Freedom Fighter then getting caught up in being one I never really thought about what's next. Have you? Has Sonic?"

Both Sonic and Sally were at a loss for words.

Amy started to cry. "Maybe Mars is right, that it's time we stopped playing solider and grew up. A lot of us…never got the chance to."

Then a clock started chiming.

"The duel will be starting soon," said Sally. "Anyone who wants to see how this turns out had better get going. I don't want to, but I feel like it's my responsibility."

As the crowd began to disperse Sonic clenched his fist. _"I hope I'm barking up the wrong tree about Charlie. Because the longer I keep this secret, the more likely it'll tear the team apart!"_

* * *

The was getting low on the horizon, it was agreed by both the Freedom Fighters and the Council that the duel between Naugus and Charlemagne would be kept secret, so naturally everyone in the city found out and whether from concern or curiosity soon there was not an empty seat in the arena.

The Freedom Fighters had gathered near the royal box as two lone figures started approaching each other on the stadium floor.

"So, what are the rules to this thing?" Sonic asked Lucian after he came back from the last bit of preparations.

"No outside tools or assistance permitted, only whatever spells you know or weapons you can conjure. The duel continues until one of the combatants yields, is incapacitated or destroyed. It's quite simple."

"Simple and barbaric," said Sally. "I know for some cultures this is honorable combat, but I thought my ancestors had long put this sort of thing behind us."

"This will be just a one-time thing," said Sonic. "Because if Naugus wins or Charlie refuses to return the throne then I'm going in there."

"Just be careful," Nicole said as she appeared from the handheld Sally had on her. "You can bet Naugus has some sort of trick prepared."

"I'd rather you didn't," Gold said as she sat behind Sonic. "Remember Silver and I sacrificed ever going back to our original time to keep you alive so I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't make our jobs harder."

Sonic huffed. "If you're from the future then maybe you can tell me if I should just take care of this now."

"Sorry, the state rewrote almost everything. All we were able to salvage some information about the Freedom Fighters and Robotnick but nothing that went into detail."

Gold turned when a shadow fell over her from behind and she spotted a large cat looking at her with a blush. "Hi… I'm Big."

"I can see that." Gold said.

"No," said Sally. "That's his name, Big the Cat."

Gold held out her hand. "Well then nice to meet you I guess."

As she shook Big's hand the purple cat seemed to be lost in thought.

"I think he likes you," said Tails as Big sat down.

Gold expression was hard to read. "That's…sweet. I…need to keep an eye out for threats."

Big sighed as he looked down, His faithful frog croaked.

"Don't worry Mr. Big," said Cream. "It doesn't mean she doesn't want to be friends, she's just worried about protecting Sonic right now that's all."

Big gave a thankful smile back.

Gold took in the details to the people near them. {Silver are you and the Secret Freedom Fighters in position?}

{Suited up and ready to go,} Silver answered in her mind. {We think Geoffrey will be in a room under the center of the arena. It would give him the best range to do whatever Naugus plans.}

{Is Hershey with you?}

{Yes, sadly…}

{The first few events Master Mogul revealed to us are going to happen today. Hershey and Geoffrey are a key part of those events.}

{Once I do this, Elias and the others might never speak to me again.}

{If you don't, they will have never spoken to you at all, because we'll cease to exist along with everything you and Blaze had done in this time. At least we'll always have each other.}

{Have you spotted Blaze?}

Gold noticed the cat near other visiting leaders. {Yes, on the bright side once what needs to be done today happens, we can restore her memories as well.}

{And given what's going to happen probably yell at us for once we tell her where we really came from.}

{It's about to start get ready.}

Down on the arena floor Naugus sneered at Charlemagne.

"_I always knew you were worthless!"_ Nusgau said as the bat appeared within Naugus' mind. _"You can't even dispose of a measly Overlander without me!"_

"_I don't need your help!" _Thought Naugus. _"I just need the three of you to not take over my body until I beat this washed up feeble ruler!"_

A lobster appeared to Naugus. _"For what? To be the king of people who will probably now hate you?"_ said Suguna. _ "If I were in charge, I would have sought even greater power instead of relying on the crutch of a Chaos Emerald!"_

"_What do you think will happen to us If I lose? Try getting power when you are constantly being hunted!"_

"_Naugus does have a point,"_ said Agunus. _"Taking control of this body would be pointless if the victor is imprisoned or destroyed. Which is why I will take over if it looks like you're blowing it!"_

"_No, I can assure our victory!"_ argued Nusgau.

"_Your knowledge pales in comparison to mine dingbat!"_ snarled Suguna.

"_Enough!" _thought Naugus. _"Geoffrey will have everything under control if this goes wrong, but if you just let me handle this, he won't need to do anything."_

"_Very well, but if it looks like you're about to get us killed each of us will step in like Agunus suggested."_

"_For once we are all in agreement!"_ snarled Agunus.

Charlemagne shook his head. "A house divided cannot stand, a fractured mind is even worse. This is your last chance Naugus, surrender now and spare yourself some grief."

Naugus smirked. "I've learned a fair bit about your condition, it seems like you can't use anything powerful without bringing yourself to the point of collapse. I think I'm about to set a record for the shortest Ixis Duel of all time!"

The former king sighed. "If you will not listen to reason, then force it is. But first the niceties."

Charlemagne gave a short bow.

"Practicing for when you lose?"

"We must bow to each other before we begin. After all we're not savages."

Naugus continued to smirk as he bowed. "Fine, I'll play along. I'll even let you fire off the first spell, but I promise it won't defeat me."

"A mistake, not that there's much you can do against this! Behold the Star of Ixis!"

The Overlander made some gestures and then two purple glowing circles appeared on the ground near the edge of the arena floor that had runes appearing between them. Then a triangle appeared in the inside the circle, followed by a second at a different angle and then a third. The Triangles overlapped to form an enneagram."

"I gave you the first shot and you waste it on a light show?"

"The Star of Ixis is no mere light show Naugus. No magic can enter or leave the boundaries of this nine-pointed star, or did you think I wouldn't figure out you that you'd have your apprentice cheat for you?"

Naugus growled as he formed a fireball in his left hand. "I should have possessed him, now Geoffrey's completely useless to me now!"

Naugus unleashed a stream of fire from the ball, Charlemagne produced a shimmering wall in front of it. "It wouldn't have made a difference as you're about to find out!"

Charlemagne thrust his hand as arrows of pure energy shot out of his palm knocking the mutant on the ground. The crowd gasped as the Overlander scored the first blow.

Naugus shadowmelded and appeared behind Charlemagne sent a blast that just narrowly missed Charlemagne turning the ground it hit into crystal.

"Excellent feint," the Overlander said as he conjured a sword. "A similar move by King Max cost me that fateful duel, but I learn from my mistakes!"

"You won't live to learn from this one!" Naugus formed a sword in his left hand and the began to swing at the former king.

Steel clung against steel for several blows, but it came apparent that Naugus was nowhere near the swordsman Charlemagne was. The Overlander caught a thrust and twisted the blade away from Naugus' grip.

"Trying to best a trained swordsman in a fit of rage? You're slipping Naugus."

"_He's right you fool!"_ Suguna screamed from Naugus' mind. _"I'm taking over, and I'll finish this with a spell I kept to myself!"_

Naugus' eyes glowed blue as Suguna took possession. "Let's see you handle this! Crimson Rain!"

A red orb shot from Naugus' right claw into the air and then burst into droplets of acid that were about to hit Charlemagne.

* * *

Under the arena floor Geoffrey St. John was arranging objects to aid in the spell, on one corner of the room a monitor showed him what was going on through a cctv feed. Both combatants began to approach each other.

"Sorry, Geoff." Elias said as he entered with the rest of the team in their black suits with colored piping. Hershey's piping and goggles were purple with the goggles tinted to obscure her face until the right moment. "But we're putting an end to your little magic show."

Geoffery sighed. "I guess there was no other outcome. You'll protect the republic no matter what and I have no other choice but to do as Naugus commands."

"You've always had a choice," said Lyco.

"You could have done what was best for your pack," said Leeta.

"Everyone in my 'pack' is gone," said Geoff. "The Royal Secret Service was disbanded, it's members either dead or left to retire or join the Freedom Fighters in other places."

"Valdez survived," said Elias. "And he isn't the only one…"

With a nod from Elias the Jack of Hearts removed her goggles. "Geoffrey..."

The skunk was stunned. "Hershey…"

"_It begins,"_ Silver thought to himself.

"They told me everything Geoffrey," Hershey said. "About you working with Naugus, what you've done… but none of that matters to me! Just stop now…"

"I can't stop," Geoffrey said resigned. "Until Naugus rules the kingdom I am bound by our pact to serve."

"A pact…" Hershey said with a gasp.

"I don't believe it!" Larry said with his tail twitching. "The King brought your wife here to talk some sense into you and you won't even listen to her!"

Geoffrey took out a vial and poured out a noxious green substance out. "Not that it matters anyway, this can't be stopped now."

The marking drawn into the floor glowed and from the mark a smoke rose upwards. But the moment it reached the ceiling the smoke ignited and vanished.

Geoffrey dropped the vial. "The curse of weakness! What did you do to it!?"

"I don't think it was my bad luck this time," said Larry.

On the monitor the Secret Freedom Fighters heard Charlemagne speaking. "The Star of Ixis is no mere light show Naugus. No magic can enter or leave the boundaries of this nine-pointed star, or did you think I wouldn't figure out you that you'd have your apprentice cheat for you?"

Geoffrey fell to his knees. "No, I… I failed… How did he know?"

"It's over Geoffrey," said Elias. "Don't make things any harder for yourself than they already are."

"They can't possibly be harder!" Geoff yelled as pointed his crossbow at the Secret Freedom Fighters. "Imprison me, exile me, it doesn't matter! So long as the pact between me and Naugus remains He'll find me and force me to do his bidding!"

Hershey trembled. "Geoff once Naugus is defeated…"

"Can you forgive me?"

"What?!"

"I committed an act of treason, I lied to you about my childhood, pledged myself to a monster, learned at his feet, did wretched things for him. Is it possible for you to forgive me Hershey?"

The tears on Geoffrey's face were clear, but Hershey closed her eyes on her own tears. "How can I…?"

"I see, but I guess it doesn't matter. There was only one way this can truly end."

Geoffrey quickly moved his fist under his jaw. If he fired his crossbow the bolt would quickly go through his mouth and up into his brain.

"What are you doing?!" yelled Elias.

"Executing a traitor and denying Naugus his one ally. I wish you had never come here Hershey but at least I can say goodbye. You always told me I made you better, but the truth was you were better than me and always have been."

Silver clenched his fist. As much as he wanted to stop this he knew if he did, he'd keep himself from existing and he wouldn't be able to stop it leading himself right back where he started.

The former spy had clenched his fist to launch the bolt.

Hershey screamed. "GEOFFREY!"

* * *

Suguna grinned madly in Naugus' body as the acid rain fell towards Charlemagne. The Overlander touched his sword causing it to turn into dust which he sent towards the acid with a gust of wind. Once the rain passed through the cloud it became regular water harmlessly drenching him.

Suguna was dumbfounded. "How?!"

"By changing my blade into a corrosive like calcium carbonate I was able to use it to neutralize your acid. And people say magic and science don't mix."

"_So much for your secret spell!"_ Agunus roared in Naugus' mind. _"Now we do it my way!"_

Naugus's eyes glowed yellow. "Stone Body!" The mutant's skin hardened into granite and he then charged as he bellowed with his horn lowered intending to gore the former king.

"Snap Freeze!" Charlemagne breathed heavily as the ground under Naugus froze causing him to slip forward getting his horn stuck in the ground.

The crowd laughed as Agunus tried to dislodge himself from the floor. "Ok, that is probably worth the whole fight," Sonic chortled.

"_A headlong charge?! That was your strategy?!"_ Nusgau screeched from within Naugus. _"I'll take it from here and we'll win even If I have to bring this whole stadium down on this fool and everyone else!"_

Naugus' body dislodged itself as the stone broke off his body and his eyes glowed red. "I've had enough for your tricks! Prepare for annihilation!"

Nusgau soared upward as storm clouds gathered and crackled with lightning. "Final Tempest!"

Charlemagne rose one had towards Nusgau and the other to the ground beneath him. "Gravity Bind!"

A column of black light rose from beneath Suguna that pulled him crashing to the ground. The mutant's eyes returned to normal as he struggled against the hyper gravity in the column. "And you three call yourselves great wizards?! I'll just have to…"

Naugus found his words cut off as Charlemagne had conjured another sword and had its tip against the evil mage's throat. "Surrender," the Overlander said rasping.

"Surrender to you?! You can barely stand!"

"Yes, I have overexerted myself, but if I give out completely gravity will pull my blade down on your neck. You had no intention of making this nation a kingdom again, simply so you could keep that young man enslaved to you forever, didn't you? Naugus you lied, you cheated, you lost, you don't deserve the throne, the only thing you can come out of this with is your own miserable life unless you are fool on top of everything else."

Naugus growled. "I… yield…"

"It's over," Sally sighed in relief.

"Only if he gives back the crown back to Elias," said Sonic. "Now if you don't mind, I'm going to make sure ugly doesn't get away."

After the Star of Ixis faded Sonic was literally on top of Naugus in an instant. Lucian, Fiona and Amy ran up to the new King of the Republic after he had dispelled his blade and taken the purple Chaos Emerald from Naugus.

"I have two proclamations," Charlemagne said raising his hand. "First for her recent services to the Republic in restoring Princess Sally to her family I hereby bestow upon Fiona Fox a full pardon for any crimes for which the Republic has accused her of." He turned to Fiona. "I know you will make the best of this second chance."

Fiona had tears in her eyes. "Master…I…I can never thank you enough."

Sonic shrugged. "Ok, we can let him have that, but that second had better be what he promised."

"Secondly, I do hereby announce my abdication from the throne and restore the crown to King Maximillian Acorn!"

A sudden hush came over the crowd. "Not Elias?" asked Sonic.

"Max's health has been restored; he is now fit to rule again. While I have no doubt Elias has nothing but good intentions for the people, my old friend deserves a chance to be known as something other than 'the cursed'." Charlemagne turned to crowd. "That is unless Maximillian or anyone else with a claim has any objections."

"I…would like to hear from my son first," said Max.

Sally turned to where Elias was supposed to be sitting. _"Elias if you want to keep the throne you better get back soon."_

"Actually, I have an objection or two!" shouted a voice from the arena speaker system.

Suddenly the ground burst beneath everyone on the arena floor filling the air with dust. Sonic looked around to see Naugus nearby him dazed. Not far were the Secret Freedom Fighters, while Silver seemed fine the rest were shaking off the wild ride they had. Geoffrey was also nearby also groaning as he got up, his crossbow strangely melted.

"Amy! Fiona! Lucian! Charlie!"

"All right here with me and my new friends," said a familiar voice. The dust started to clear revealing a flying pod with the smirking figure of Viktor Robotnick standing with one foot on the railing of the vehicle. "Freedom City, the doctor is in!"

Sonic smirked right back. "You just had to crash the party didn't you Mister Perfect?" As the dust cleared further Sonic saw Amy, Lucian, Fiona and Charlemagne in a floating energy bubble unconscious. Hovering nearby on jets, magic or a small vehicle were an improved metal series, Regina Ferrum, Mammoth Mogul, Witchcart and her Witchcarters along with a figure in purple robes and a painted metal mask. "And I see you brought a few other creeps, but I don't recognize your friend dressed up for a masquerade."

"I am Lord Specter," the masked figure said. "You didn't think you could stage an Ixis Duel without getting the attention of the Archmage and Grandmaster of the Order of Ixis did you?"

"Knuckles leapt from his seat down to the stadium floor. "So, you're bringing back the group my ancestors put down millennia ago with these dark mages."

"Yes but we have one more member to introduce," said Specter. "Witchcart, give the order."

"Oh apprentice, finish your mission and capture Mr. St. John for us," The Witchcart had a wicked gleam in her eye. "Like a good kitty."

"What is she talking about?" asked Larry as he got up.

Suddenly a wall of fire cut Geoffrey off from the Secret Freedom Fighters. Hershey approached the flames with her arms raised and passed through unharmed.

"My crossbow," said Geoffrey inspecting the damage to his weapon. "You did this?"

"Hershey?!" Elias asked shocked. "What are you doing, how are you doing this?!"

Hershey had a focused gaze on the Secret Freedom Fighters. "I told you Elias, to get here I've done things I'm not proud of." She then looked at Geoffrey with tears. "Now I can finish my answer to your question. How can I have the right to forgive you when I've done the same crimes? We were both wrong, neither of is better than the other, we both made a pact for power and we're the same in so many ways. Orphans, Freedom Fighters, spies, fools, traitors…"

She turned to Witchcart who had a rune glow on the back of her hand, the same rune that was now on Hershey's forehead.

"You are an Ixis Wizard and I am your Ixis Witch."


	9. Freedom City Throwdown

Sonic and everyone in the stadium were trying to process what just happened. Naugus had been dethroned and Charlemagne was about to give the crown back to King Max when Robotnick made his public debut by capturing the mage and his students, including Amy. What was more the Order of Ixis had returned and one of their members was the previously thought dead Hershey St. John who had been ordered to capture her husband for them. Runes glowed on the back of Witchcart's hand and Hershey's forehead as she grabbed her husband.

"Silver use your telekinesis!" yelled Lyco. "Keep Geoffrey and Hershey from escaping!"

"I won't do it," Silver said.

"Why the heck not?!" asked Leeta.

"As much as I want to stop them this must happen, for reasons I can't tell you guys. You'll just have to trust me."

Elias scowled. "You knew she was with them and didn't tell us?! We always stood by you to save your future and you didn't trust us to understand that?!"

"Once this is over you guys can kick me out, but I couldn't risk it it's not just my future at stake anymore but my sister's too."

"Don't do this Hershey!" Mars yelled from the stands. "You'll both become fugitives, if captured you'll both be locked up! Is he really worth your freedom?!"

"Even if I agreed with you uncle, I have no choice," Hershey cried. "I made the pact; I must obey Madam Witchcart."

The flames died as the couple was levitated towards Robotnick and the Order, suddenly Geoffrey yelled as the same rune on Hershey's forehead appeared on his own. He began to pull away from Hershey as she tried to take him with her. Naugus had gotten up and had the rune on the back of his left hand. "We made a pact as well, and I say my apprentice is staying with me!"

The rune on back of Witchcart's hand glowed more intensely. "We'll see about that you mishmashed freak!"

"This is getting us nowhere," said Mammoth Mogul. "It's time you went away for a while. Zone Gate!"

A portal opened beneath Naugus. The mutant screamed as he fell through before it suddenly closed.

As Hershey and Geoffrey were pulled into the sphere Specter removed the purple Chaos Emerald from Charlemagne's hand and tucked it into his cloak. "You enjoyed that too much Mammoth."

"I don't know why your allies want Geoffrey," Sally told Robotnick as she and other Freedom Fighters came down to the stadium floor prepared for a fight. "But you've made a serious mistake in coming here Viktor. Almost every Freedom Fighter is here right now, do really think you and your cronies can take all of us?"

Viktor smirked. "The real question is how many Freedom Fighters are here in the stadium and how many are out in the city to hold back my Neo Swats, who at this moment are spreading out of this arena to obtain the two remaining Chaos Emeralds you've secured as well as general destruction and mayhem?"

Up in the stands Commander Tower activated his communicator. "Letter of Gabriel, status report!"

"Those Neo Swats are attacking the city," said a feminine voice on the other end. "We've deployed our troops and robots but can't unload our weaponry without endangering civilians."

Sally growled as she activated her ring blades and turned to those Freedom Fighters still in the stands. "Head to the hospital and Council Rotunda! Stop any badnicks you see along the way!"

"And somebody get the Sword of Light!" yelled Elias. "It's our best chance against them!"

"I'll see if anybody needs help out there!" Cream said as she and Cheese flew off.

As many did what was asked Mina and Ash surprisingly speed up to the frontline.

"This was why you wanted the plans for the stadium isn't it Mammoth?!" said Ash. "I asked for speed from you to fight Eggman and you then use the favor you asked for in return to help his replacement?!"

"You blackmailed Ash with my father's freedom then you go around and endanger them both?!" Mina yelled. "You're even lower than I thought!"

Mogul stared the two mongooses down. "What did I say about doing something stupid? You have no idea of the powers you are messing with."

Sonic glared at Mammoth Mogul. "You're just going to let Masquerade here snag the what's keeping you alive?!"

Mammoth opened his coat and instead of the white emerald was a strange black gem. "Actually, in exchange for rejoining the Order of Ixis Lord Specter has created something for me a little less sought after now there are fewer emeralds. This Ixis Crystal should help me maintain my immortality without a gem every would-be conqueror and hero will want to get their grubby hands on, now all we need are the two in the city and these mages to grow our numbers."

"Now a small sample of our power," said Specter. The masked mage lifted a hand suddenly Mina was held in place by an orb like the one holding the Order's prisoners. "Save her if you can."

Specter fired a dart of black energy at Mina. Ash sped into Mina knocking her out of the orb but was trapped inside.

Mina looked on horrified. "ASH NO!"

"CHAOS CONTROL!"

Sonic teleported into the orb and the two vanished again just as the dart passed through leaving a charred hole where it hit the ground.

"That was too close," said Sonic.

Sally looked at the two Mongooses. "I know you both have some explaining to do later but for now we could use your help."

"So, you have the last emerald as the Grand Design foretold," said Specter as he glared at Sonic. "You better hand it over if you know what's good for your friends."

"Not going to happen," said Sonic.

"We'll see about that!" said Metal Sonic as he jetted over to Sonic, the blue hedgehog spin dashed towards him when he rolled to the side and made a swipe towards Sally. The princess narrowly dodged and cut a bit of the coat like covering near Metal Sonic's leg.

"You'll have to do better than that!" Sally said with a confident smile.

"Actually, I was right on target," Metal Sonic held up Nicole's handheld before tossing it to Viktor.

"Sonic, don't do it!" Nicole shouted. Robotnick just pressed a couple of buttons on the handheld rendering her silent.

"Good work, she'll prove useful," said Robotnick. "Now let's finish what we came here to do!"

"Into the city!" said Specter. The last two emeralds are in our grasp!"

"Neo Metal Series!" bellowed Viktor. Hold them off until we can confirm the emeralds are secure!"

As the villains sped off the Metal Sonic launched another attack on Sonic. Sonic launched a spin dash against his corkscrew then veered off at the last second zooming past him. "Sorry chrome dome, but I have to get my pals away from your boss!"

Tails squared off against his robotic counterpart. "So, you switched to using jet boots. What's wrong, Viktor didn't think what I use to fly wasn't good enough?"

"Not at all," said Metal Tails. "But the switch freed up my tails to do this!"

The robot's tails extended like they were made from liquid metal, their tips as sharp as spears as they split into four then eight. Tails just narrowly dodged being impaled, one got near his head when Antione deflected it with his sword. "Thanks!"

"Go help Sonic," said the Coyote. "I will cut down zhis cretin!"

"But how…" Tails then gasped as he took out his scanner. "Wait, Charlemagne just pardoned Fiona but her tracking anklet wasn't removed yet. I can use it to find where Viktor is!"

"Zhen get going!" Antione said as he parried more of Metal Tail's blows.

As Tails flew off Knuckles dodged the three spiked fists on the end of his neo metal counterpart's arms. "Chaotix if any of you can get to the Order of Ixis, try to stop them. I'll handle this second-rate tin can!"

"You got it!" Ray said as he and Mighty slipped away.

Knuckles punched the robot's chest. It opened a hole just long enough to let the echidna's arm pass trough before tightening around it. "Not bad for second rate!"

Suddenly a stream of fire blew Metal Knuckle's side off for long enough for the original to free himself. "We'll secure the emerald then go free the prisoners!" said Blaze. "Marine follow me!"

Gold noticed the Sol Islanders leaving. {Silver, if Blaze interferes now it could be disastrous!}

Silver levitated and headed out of the stadium. {I'll follow them and try to make sure we all still exist!}

Sally squared off against Neo Metal Amy, she took a swipe at the robot who leapt out of the way. "What's the matter princess?" the robot said. "Slower now you're a flesh bag?"

The robot hedgehog raised her hammer, one end opened to show a number of mini rockets that the fired at the princess. Suddenly a laser had detonated the rockets in midair, Bunnie stepped up and threw an extended punch at Metal Amy. "I'll take care of Amy's doppelganger Sally Girl!" the cyborg said tossing some keys at Sally. "Me and Twan's car has an extreme gear in the back, use it and get the Sword of Light!"

Sally caught the keys. "Thanks, and don't worry I'll get Nicole back!" Then Sally ran out and after leaving the stadium hopped into the gear and sped off.

* * *

Amy felt like she was her hammer was being swung around in her own head, she looked around and found Lucian, Fiona and Charlemagne still out cold with Geoffrey and Hershey awake and hugging each other tightly.

"…I'm so sorry I didn't let you know I was alive sooner," Hershey cried. "Maybe then you wouldn't have…"

"That doesn't matter to me now," said Geoffrey. "The only thing that matters is that we're together again, whatever happens we'll face it side by side."

"I don't know what's going on but you two seem to." Amy said getting their attention. Her Hammer appeared in her hands. "Why does Robotnick want us?! How could you work for him?!"

"Like Geoffery is bound to Naugus through their pact I was bound to serve Madam Witchcart and by extension the Order of Ixis," said Hershey. "Robotnick made a deal with the Order, he'd help them get Chaos Emeralds in exchange for some weapon they found. As for you and the other prisoners all I know is that we're all needed for what the Order calls the 'Ixis Resurgence'. I don't know what it is, but Lord Specter wants powerful mages and Chaos Emeralds for it."

"Then I'm getting all of us out of here!" Amy began to strike the bubble with her hammer which shook off the blow.

Hershey shook her head. "Lord Specter made this sphere, it's impenetrable."

A short distance away Sonic and Metal Sonic ran through an explosion. Amy grinned as Lucian and Fiona began to stir. "I wouldn't count us out just yet, Sonic's going to wipe the floor these guys!"

The flying pod and the sphere underneath stopped on a rooftop. A Neo Swat flew up transforming from jet mode and handed Regina the yellow emerald. "Perfect," the Overlander said smirking. "We just need to wait for the blue emerald to be brought to us, then we just have to get the last one from the Hedgehog."

"There is a greater prize to collect," said Specter. He raised his hand and the magic bubble collapsed, those within stood and turned except for the still unconscious Charlemange. Specter levitated the purple emerald from Charlemagne and put it into his cloak. "The Grand Design calls for you to join the Order of Ixis. You may refuse now but you will join us to avoid dire consequences, this is not a threat, simply an inevitability."

Amy growled. "Do you think someone put gullible pills in our breakfast this morning?! I'm not going join up with the bad guys just because you tell me it was preordained when you could just as easily be lying to us!"

"As if I'd ever join the guys who gave Ixis Magiks a bad name in the first place!" shouted Lucian. "I'd never betray my master like that!"

"Today a lot of people had forgiven me of a lifetime of crime and betrayal," said Fiona. "I'm not going to throw that away by turning against them all over again!"

"Well I know your answer my apprentice," said Witchcart. "I can simply order you to join and our pact…"

"Cannot be used in this case," said Specter. "They have to join us of their own volition for the Grand Design to be fulfilled."

"You blundered, Madam Witchcart," Hershey hissed. "You gave me magical power and the knowledge to use it in exchange for servitude UNTIL I got my husband back! Naugus is gone, so both parts of our pact have been fulfilled! I'm taking him and we'll find an isolated corner of the world to live the rest of our days in peace!"

Witchcart cackled. "You think THAT was the basis of our pact!? Stupid little girl, remember the first time we REALLY met back when you were a child, the promise you made your 'fairy godmother'?!"

Hershey looked horrified. "No, then that means…"

"Like how Naugus had a means to keep Geoffrey under his thumb I simply have to not give the world a 'happily ever after' to make our pact last the rest of your life!"

Hershey fought tears back. "I may have to serve, but I'll never join the Order!"

"Think carefully about this," Witchcart said with a sneer. "You and your husband are now both guilty of treason, do you really think they will let you be together now? Join us or not the only chance you both have is to come with us."

Geoffrey stood next to Hershey. "I chose duty over my heart once, I will never do it again. I will come with you, but I will not join and betray my beloved again!"

Witchcart sneered again. "If you both weren't so valuable to us, I'd have you both know what it really would be like for you to grow old together, in the space of fifteen seconds!"

The sound of breaking glass below them turned Falke Wolf's attention downward. "Hehehe! Sonic and his robot lookalike are getting closer!"

"Looks like some flyers are on their way," said Carrotia as she pointed to Tails, Cream and Ray as they took out some flying Neo Swats. "I don't think it's smart for us to stay."

Witchcart waved her hand at them. "Witchcarters, take care of the fox and any help he's bringing. We'll handle the hedgehog."

"We'll make mincemeat out 'em!" Bearanger roared. The Witchcarters then flew off.

"Now as for the St. John's if you don't want to spend your days in sperate cells here or at our hideout you better help us secure the Overlander King and hold off the hedgehog until the other emeralds get here," Mammoth said as he planted his cane firmly.

"…If that's what it takes," said Geoffrey as he formed a vacuum in his hand.

Amy however stood in front of the skunk Hammer at the ready. "Well I'm going to have to disagree with you on that one."

Hershey had her hands catch fire. "This won't be like your other fights with him, we're a team for better or for worse."

"A part of me hoped you'd get him to go back to be a good guy again," sighed Amy. "But it looks it's the other way around."

"I won't let you touch master!" said Lucian as his hands glowed aqua.

Fiona's hands took on a yellow glow. "Ixis Magik versus Ixis Magik, time to see who had the better teacher."

Amy charged only to find her movements halted when Regina caused a steel girder to burst from the floor and wrap around her like a snake.

The other Mobians then sent spells towards each other.

"Wind Cutter!"

"Flame Claw!"

"Hydro Sphere!"

"Diamond Darts!"

The blade of air, lash of flame, ball of water and swarm of sharp gems collided in mid-air causing a small explosion.

"Geoffrey lend me your wind!" Hershey said as she prepared a fireball. "Air feeds fire, together nothing can stop us!"

Geoffery began to blow a gust into the fireball making it bigger, but as Hershey launched it the orb of flame turned at a right angle and came to a stop in the palm of another cat's hand.

"Wind does feed fire, but all flame is mine to command," Blaze said as she stood on top of an antenna with the blue chaos emerald in the other hand. "You shouldn't play with it unless you are prepared to get burned!"

As Blaze threw the fireball Silver looked on as he levitated nearby. {No, Blaze is attacking the Order! She might hit Hershey and Geoffrey by mistake!}

{We still can't interfere yet!} Gold answered back using the mental link. {Not with her or those Mammoth wants to recruit until the Order makes their escape!}

{But they are interfering with each other! Blaze could wipe herself and us from existence!}

Suddenly a black hole appeared in front of the fireball and vanished as soon as it passed through.

"Ah, the emerald," said Specter. "And an even greater prize." He raised his hand Blaze found herself dragged to the roof by shadowy chains manacled to her wrists and ankles holding her rigid and upright. Specter then took the Emerald and passed it to Mammoth. "As much as the emeralds and these young people we need what you carry inside you!"

Specter reached for Blaze's chest his hand seemed to phase inside of her as she screamed in pain.

"Princess!" Marine said as she swung in kicking Carrotia towards the lake in the park below. Tails and Ray did the same to the other Witchcarters while Cream and Cheese did what they could to make sure the villains landed in the lake safely.

"Witchcart, take care of those children," said Specter. "Use the spell I told you to prepare."

Witchcart nodded as behind her Fiona was dodging a lightning blast from Regina and Lucian conjured an ice wall to stop Viktor's laser blast. "With pleasure my lord, I'm going to enjoy doing this to the fox boy who sealed me away for years!"

Witchcart shot a large orb made of a strange green light towards Tails, Cream, Ray and Marine. Cream only had just enough time push Cheese out of the path before the orb swallowed them then vanished as they fell towards the lake unconscious.

Sonic noticed just as he embedded Neo Metal Sonic into the wall. "Tails!"

"I'll go get them!" said Silver. "Go save Blaze!"

"I'll help him too!" Sally said as she flew in on the borrowed gear. "You might need this!"

Sally tossed the Sword of Light to Sonic who caught it as he ran up the wall. "Thanks guys! The only thing these guys will remember this Remembrance Day is the butt kicking I'm going to deliver!"

Sonic crested the peak of the roof and saw Specter reaching into Blaze on instinct he dove towards the mage ready to bring the Sword of Light down on him.

Without even turning Specter reached out and stopped the sword with his hand which seemed to burn at the blade's touch. "Ah Sonic, you've brought the last emerald we need." Suddenly specter tightened his grip on the blade causing it to shatter into pieces. "You'll have you wait your turn; I'm almost done here."

Blaze moaned in pain. "You… won't… take my fire… away from me!"

"It's not your fire I want, just what you've hidden within it."

Specter pulled his hand out Blaze's chest as she screamed, in it was what looked like an eye with a slit for a pupil wreathed in black flame.

The color drained from Blaze's face. "That was inside of me!? What is that thing?!"

Specter encased the eye in crystal before stowing it in his robes. "All you need to know about it for now is that it's mine." Specter turned to Sonic. "All we need is your emerald, but you can put an end to all of this right now, join us and we can complete the Grand Design without putting your friends through further harm. Fulfil your destiny and their suffering can end now."

Sonic just smirked back. "Does the phrase 'go suck a lemon' hold any meaning for you Masquerade? You might have trashed the Sword of Light but I'm a Freedom Fighter to the end and I'll never give up!"

"Freedom is an illusion; the fate of all mortals has been determined since the beginning of time. The Grand Design cannot be stopped, the best you can hope for is to delay it ever so slightly, to think otherwise is foolish."

"Then call me a fool."

"Indeed, for you have forgotten not all your foes here possess Ixis Magiks."

Sonic turned to Robotnick's flying pod. The scientist held out Nicole's handheld like temping bait.

"Let's trade Hedgehog," Viktor smirked as his eyes turned black. "This piece of junk with the AI that wants to be a real girl inside for your Chaos Emerald, otherwise I wipe everything from its memory including, Nicole was it? I already took most of the steps all I must do now is push a button. You might be fast enough to keep me from erasing the holo-lynx from existence but are you willing to take that risk?"

Sonic growled as he tossed the cyan emerald to Robotnick. "Don't get too attached, I'm going to snag it back."

Viktor caught the emerald. "So predictable that you'd play the hero. I on the other hand…" Viktor used his cybernetic enhanced strength to crush Nicole's handheld as he laughed maniacally. "…have already transferred her program to protected memory on the Colossus, so I have an AI to study and your emerald!"

Sonic looked like he was about to pop a vein. "When I get my hands on you lying sack of…!"

Viktor tossed the Emerald to Specter. "That concludes my part of our deal. I know you people have your own escape planned so I'll take my leave, but I expect my weapon soon! All units, initiate transmat recall!"

"You're not going anywhere Mister Perfect!"

Sonic tried to spin dash Viktor only to hit thin air as he teleported away.

"My order we have all we need for now," said Specter. "We must return to the Temple. Zone Gate!"

A portal shimmered purple in mid-air, Regina and Mammoth were quick to enter.

"What about my Witchcarters?!" Witchcart screamed. "I put a lot of work into those servants they're…"

"Expendable. The Grand Design will grant you better minions, provided you are not captured here."

Witchcart began to pilot her namesake vehicle through the portal. "Those had better be some good minions," she said as she started to pass. "Oh, I almost forgot." Witchcart clenched her fist lighting a rune on the back of her hand and levitated Hershey over. "Come along Apprentice!"

"Wait!" said Geoffrey. "Take me with her!"

"Sorry but you're all staying put!" Sonic said as he started to run after them.

"I never wanted to do something this undignified, but you left me no choice."

Geoffery turned his back to Sonic and the other heroes and from his tail sprayed a thick cloud of smelly musk over Sonic, Lucian, Amy, Fiona and the still unconscious Charlemagne.

"Ugh!" Lucian yelled as they sank to their knees, tears in their eyes. "It's like something crawled up my nose and died!"

Witchcart crossed over with Hershey in tow and Geoffrey right on their heels.

"Until the next time the Grand Design makes our paths cross," Specter then floated through the portal which then vanished.

The shadowy chains vanished from Blaze's wrists and ankles, Sonic however just punched the roof. "They got all the Chaos Emeralds! They have Geoffrey and Hershey and they got whatever that thing in Blaze was! I haven't lost this badly since Infinite had me locked up at the beginning of the Phantom Ruby War! Man, this stinks!"

"Not to mention the rest of us," Amy said as Fiona used and conjured diamond to cut the girder that had wrapped around her. "I think we can all use a hot shower, for more than one reason."

"At least they didn't get Master Charlemagne and the rest of us," said Lucian. "But we better get him to a hospital fast."

"Wait," said Blaze. "What about Marine, and the others that got blasted down there?!"

Sonic looked over the edge. "Tails! Cream! Ray!"

"No," said Fiona. "I just got my family back! I don't want to lose anyone in it again!"

"You go help them," said Lucian. "I can handle Master on my own."

A short time later Sonic found Sally in the park along with Silver, Gold and Mighty. Sally ran up to Sonic for a hug. "Sonic you're…" she stopped short and pinched her nose closed. "…smelling really bad!"

Sonic groaned. "A little souvenir from Geoffrey, he and Hershey are both with Mr. Perfect's magic buddies. But we'll worry about that later, how's Tails and the others?"

Sally looked nervous. "They seem to be fine; we lowered their descent enough for them to land safely in the lake. That's the good news."

"Then what's the bad news?!" Blaze asked. "What's wrong with Marine?!"

"It's not so much bad news as it is weird news, we laid them down nearby and I think you should see it for yourselves."

"Mind if we take care of something first?" asked Gold. "I need to help Blaze for the sake of our mission."

"Do I know you?" Blaze asked the Tenrec.

Gold put her hand on Blaze's forehead as the circle mark on her head glowed. "You will now."

A moment later Blaze had a look of realization. "Gold, Silver, the future…I remember, I was sent through time and dimensions, became a kid again, lost my memory all after…" Blaze then looked even more horrified than she did when the eye was pulled out from her fire. "Iblis!"

"It's ok Blaze," said Silver. "Solaris was erased from time, our mission…"

"You don't understand! Iblis, its essence was sealed within my inner flame. Specter pulled it out and sealed it within a crystal!"

Gold and Silver became terrified. "You mean that Order of Ixis has the essence of a fire god that destroyed the future once and they might be able to revive it?!" asked Gold.

"I don't know what they want with it, but it can't lead to anything good."

"Not to mention they have all the Chaos Emeralds," moaned Sonic. "Robotnick forced me to trade mine for Nicole, only for him to pull the bait and switch on me, she's still his prisoner."

"This has not been the Freedom Fighter's best day," said Sally. "Viktor made fools of us all, he's won this round almost completely."

"We can worry latter," said Amy. "What about Tails and the others?"

"This way," said Mighty. "But you may want to brace yourselves. I already saw Ray and still can't believe it."

They were taken to a set of bushes, nearby the Witchcarters were starting to stir.

"Feels like I had a bad dream, Carrotia was doing an evil scheme," the white rabbit said holding her head.

"Hehehehe yeah, that crone brainwashed us," said Falke. "Made us her slaves. Hehehehe, it's be funny if it wasn't so awful."

"She's gonna pay for what she did to us," said Bearenger as he tried to slowly get up. "As soon as Mobius stops spinning that is."

"Might be a good idea to have the hospital check them out," said Fiona. "I wouldn't put it past them to be lying about it, I'd have done the same thing not all that long ago."

"Sonic, Aunt Sally, Cousin?" came a voice that Sonic didn't place right away. "Must have took a branch to the throat or something, my voice doesn't sound right. Why are you all looking at me like that and why do some of you smell so bad?"

Sonic gulped. "You may want to check out your reflection…little…buddy."

"Sonic what are you…?" Tails had waved his hand at Sonic only to find it bigger than he remembered, his gloves in tatters. "What the…?!" Tails went to the pond and looked in. The reflection of a barefoot two-tailed fox of about fifteen stared back at him. "S-Sonic, what's happened to me!?"

"Now Tails, we'll figure this out," said Sally.

"You mean figure this out?" said fifteen-year-old yellow furred flying squirrel that came up from out of the bushes along a with a raccoon girl of fifteen. Both Ray's jacket and Marine's clothes were torn after their wearers outgrew them "Mighty, I think we have a problem."

"Ah, Princess," said Marine as she covered her now impressive chest. "Can you or somebody else get me a shirt or something? Not that I'm ashamed, I'm just not used to 'carrying so much cargo on the upper decks' to coin a phrase."

"Cheese told me Cream fell near here!" Vanilla said as she came onto the scene. "Is my baby alright?!"

"Mother?" said a Fifteen-year-old rabbit girl with a tuft of orange hair on her forehead and the tatters that were once her orange dress before taking a good look at herself and blushed embarrassingly.

"Cream!?"

Both doe rabbits then promptly fainted.

* * *

On the Colossus Snivley ran up to the recently returned Viktor. "Ma-Huh… you never told me how you wanted me to address you. Lord, Master?"

"Doctor will suffice until my rule is official," said Viktor. "I take it you have something to report?"

"Yes, Doctor Robotnick. Lilith has informed me that something came from through a portal like the ones the Order of Ixis use, I had it sent to an isolation chamber in lab two…"

"I have to see it! Snively keep up!" Viktor then hurried to the lab.

"Wait Doctor! Your predecessors didn't run as fast as you or run that much in general!"

A short time later Viktor was staring at a rusty metallic sphere about the size of the average Mobian inside a glass cylinder. "Lower the isolation screen, it's inert."

"You freed me and traded six Chaos Emeralds for that?" asked Snivley as the tube slid into the floor. "Not that I'm ungrateful, but I think you got scammed."

"You would think that with your limited intellect, but it's still intact enough for me to reverse engineer and from that I can mass produce my own." Viktor touched the device almost caressing it. "In hours I will have a stockpile of the most influential weapons this planet has ever known. Strange, for some reason I'd thought it'd be bigger."

"The most influential weapon on Mobius…" Snively began to back away from the sphere like it was radioactive, which for all he knew it was. "You mean this is a…"

"Lilith scan its structure and send the schematics to the orbital factories. I want to run a test as soon as possible, preferably before tomorrow morning, I've already come up with a test that should avoid notice until the actual attack. Snivley in the meantime I want you to go over this thing with a fine-tooth comb, take it apart, put it back together, turn it upside down and inside out. I want to know everything about how it works, how it can misfire, any weaknesses and most importantly how we might have to protect ourselves before the first copy comes off the assembly line!"

"Of course," said Lilith. "A structural scan shouldn't take me more than thirty minutes.

Snively approached the rusty ball cautiously. "Unfortunately, I'll have to pull an all-nighter for this one."

"I'll make sure you're provided with plenty of coffee." Viktor then smiled. "Cheer up Snivley, we're going to bring back the good old days."

* * *

The Order of Ixis then emerged in Specter's darkened chamber. Geoffrey stormed up to Witchcart. "Let her go, you miserable old hag! I don't know what horrible things you made her do but take me in her place! My life back in the Republic of Acorn is pretty much over but I can still free her like she did me!"

"Geoffrey no!" Hershey cried. "It was my choice, leave here, find somewhere quiet to live away from all this!"

Specter however laughed. "I don't think either of know your current situation, but you will. Mammoth it's time to discuss the next step of the Grand Design, you know what I require."

Mammoth Mogul sighed. "All good things must come to an end," he pointed his cane to the ceiling. "Zone Gate."

A portal opened and out dropped a very ragged looking Ixis Naugus who after hitting the floor with a grunt got up panting.

"I'm sorry," said Mogul. "I thought I sent you to the zone where Mobians are Mobini with special powers that humans kept in little balls, not the one where Robotnick unleashed a plague that turned most living things into flesh eating zombies. I always get the locations of those two mixed up."

Naugus growled. "Well seeing as my hold over the Republic has been destroyed, I'll just take my apprentice and leave."

"Don't be in such a hurry Naugus," said Specter. "You may have lost a throne, but you're being given a seat at the table. I am inviting you to rejoin the Order of Ixis, as part of its Supreme Council."

"And why should I serve you?" He glared daggers at Mogul. "Especially since he just tried to feed me to the undead!"

"You're still alive, aren't you?" asked Mogul.

"Even if you make him accept you, he can't force me join!" said Geoffrey. "That's what you told Hershey; a pact can't force us to be part of what you want!"

Specter glared at the two Mobians. "Naugus, Witchcart, send your apprentices out for now. This matter doesn't concern them yet. Don't worry Naugus, neither of them can get very far."

Witchcart used the pact rune on Hershey causing her to kneel in pain. "You heard Lord Specter."

Naugus sighed and use his Rune on Geoffrey with the same effect. "Leave us until I call you again."

The couple walked through a heavy door that closed behind them.

Once the pain subsided Geoffrey looked to Hershey. "What did he mean by us not getting far?"

Hershey started walking away. "Follow me."

Geoffrey was led out to a balcony and was surprised at the surroundings. They were surrounded by several volcanoes that jutted out of the ocean, the building they were on was on a similar peak, but not erupting. "Devil's Gulag!? Mobius' most inescapable prison?"

"Once," said Hershey. "But the volcanic activity has been increasing, forcing them to abandon the prison. But the Order took the structure over to harness the elemental power inherent here and reshaped it into this, The Temple of Ixis. I'm so sorry, I was trying to free you from Naugus but Witchcart fooled me again. You're still as much his slave as I am hers."

Geoffrey moved her so they looked into each other's eyes. "At least we'll be slaves together, which is a lot more than I've had in a long time.

"We're two of a kind," said Hershey. "It's enough for now, not forever, but for now."

"You heard my story, but how did you end up working for that hag? What did she mean by you forming the pact sooner that you thought?"

Hershey looked back to the ocean. "My mother was one of the best teachers in the Kingdom of Acorn, but I never sat in on a single lesson of hers. As a child I was very sickly, they never let me go out to play and I was often bedridden, but mother she still tried to do what she could. She read me fairy tales even some the Overlanders passed down for longer than they could remember, my favorites were stories called Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. Uncle Mars didn't approve and since my father died when I was a baby, he was the closest thing to a dad I had. Then mother started doing scouting work with Mrs. Hedgehog, to Uncle Mars' disapproval, but she kept going until…"

"I've heard, she vanished while trying to track down the escaped Colin Kintobor and was later confirmed killed in action."

"I cried myself to sleep, especially since Uncle Mars told Mrs. Hedgehog it was her fault that mother went out instead of staying with…" Hershey sobbed. "Staying with a sick little girl who wasn't going to get any better. I lost all hope, until she came.

"She wasn't like how the storybooks had shown fairies; she was a beautiful white cat with feathery blue wings. She touched me and for the first time I felt healthy and for the most part been that way ever since. She said my mother sent her before she went away to be my fairy godmother, that I'd find my own Prince Charming that I could help so many people if she would teach me. She made me promise to do to what she asked and help everyone find a happily ever after and she'd teach me in return."

"Witchcart can disguise herself, can't she?"

"Yes, as I'd learn years later. Everyone was astounded by my sudden recovery, playing outside and going to school seemed wonderful, but Uncle Mars wanted me to stop playing make believe, that I should be more careful in case I got sick again. I yelled at him thinking he wanted to take my godmother away, I said I hated him, I wished something bad would happen to him… then the next day he was roboticized. I called to my fairy godmother that I didn't mean it, I wanted to take the wish back, but I never heard back from her. I later realized it was all on Robotnick and I told myself that I imagined the whole thing, but it still shook me up enough that I didn't trust myself, that left me open for Drago to trick me into almost killing Princess Sally."

"Hershey, maybe if we weren't so ashamed of childhood foolishness, we could have helped each other like a husband and wife should. What happened that day I thought you died?"

"You know the mission, I was supposed to look into the DEL chapter in Soumerica, but Drago, as stupid as he is, remembered my scent. He wanted to see what I was up to then blew the whistle. I had to use a few of the explosives I brought with me to fake my death, but it got them off my tail. I was weighing my options at the time, going back was my first idea but I wasn't a hundred percent sure they bought it, that same reasoning kept me from hiding out with the Felidae, I spent several days thinking things through when my birthday came around and someone left a cake near my hiding place.

"Next thing I knew the fairy I thought I imagined when I was a kid was singing 'happy birthday' to me. I thought I was losing it at first until she touched me like she did back then, and I felt her. She showed me her real form and told me she had to hide her appearance because of the war, that it would easier to protect me if she used a guise a child could understand. Witchcart wanted to begin my training in earnest, that one day the magic I'd learn would help everyone and save you from something horrible. At first it was like I was living in one of those fairy tales, I was learning magic and every so often she sent me on a task to help her, but then she sent me on a task with the Witchcarters. The way they started bullying the people of a village I knew something was wrong, so I confronted Witchcart and it was then she shown her true colors."

"And here we are," said Geoffrey as he looked out to sea with her.

"Not quite, I tried to leave but then she shown me that the Pact allowed her to control me. It was then she finally told me the truth about how she found me. She came upon my mother, mortally wounded by shrapnel from the Overlander's artillery. Mother begged her to make sure I was ok; she probably couldn't tell from all the smoke who she was talking to. Witchcart told me she decided to apprentice me then, but that a dying woman didn't need youth and beauty…" Hershey continued to sob. "Witchcart aged my mother to death to fuel her magic! All that time I trusted and loved the monster who killed my mother!"

Geoffrey growled. "I thought I lost everything when I thought you died, but you suffered so much…I swear I'm going to find a way to free us both from our pacts or die trying!"

The two went into a deep kiss.

"It's been a long day for both of us," Hershey said once they finished. "I'll show you where they've been letting me stay, after dinner and a good night's sleep we can start coming up with a plan in the morning."

Despite the situation they both felt a glimmer of hope.

* * *

At the same time Specter had slipped his mask back into place. "I trust that this will remain a secret between the six of us for now or you'll face the consequences."

"That does explain a great many things," said Naugus. "But that doesn't mean I will call you or anyone else master!"

"Everyone serves another or dies alone, but servitude is not imprisonment. You will serve me but others, a great many others, will serve you in turn. You will find more power on this path than as the despot of one nation."

"If that is the case may I be so bold as to pose a question to you Lord Specter?" asked Mogul. "Who or what is it that you call master?"

"It's obvious!" grumbled Regina. "This Grand Design he always goes on about."

"Not quite Ferrum," said Specter.

Specter raised his arms, torches and braziers the room lit flooding the room with light. A curved table was directly behind with nine ornate seats the one in the center more akin to a throne. But even the throne was dwarfed by a large statue of a monstrous figure behind it. It only shown the creature from the waist up, but it had a muscular chest with four powerful arms each ending in a clawed hand with six fingers including two thumbs on opposite ends. The head had a large pair of horns, a gaping maw with fangs and six eyes that along with the mouth shown the hollow space inside where a large flame burned giving the impression that the eyes and mouth were glowing.

"Behold the Architect of the Grand Design, the Dreamer in the Dark, Lord of the Primordial Night and the true genesis of our power. Ixis, the primeval god of the void."

Witchcart shrugged. "Hmm, never took you for the religious type."

Mammoth looked at the statue with a strange familiarity. "Yes, when I first discovered magic through the Chaos Force I heard the name Ixis whispered. I thought it was the power itself, but you say it is this…being?"

"Ixis Magiks are his gift to those he has chosen to carry out the Grand Design. He ruled the void that was there before time and space began, then many eons ago lesser beings united their power and rose against him. These Chaos Titans sealed Ixis away within the Chaos Force and set about the work of creation, but Ixis was still able to influence the universe through the Chaos Force. He had created the Grand Design, set the cosmos to follow it and when it is complete the usurpers will be cast from their stolen perch, chaos will be set to order and creation will be ruled by Ixis again as it was always meant to be."

Naugus sneered. "So, you expect me to believe your little fairy tale and a follow you for that reason?"

"When the time comes all mortal eyes will be opened and bow before Ixis in worship, until then he requires only your service, not your belief. But if you want a practical reason to follow than I shall demonstrate our next goal. There are two steps to the next part of the Grand Design, the first is the Ixis Resurgence, the restoration of the Order not only to its former numbers but in time to its true master. With you the Supreme Council is complete, we would only need the Elite then through the power we demonstrate others will answer our call. We already have the seven Chaos Emeralds for the second phase, we need gather only a few other things for the Elite to continue to carry it out."

Ixis took the crystal with the flaming eye out, it floated through the air until it rested on the statue's upper right hand. "The essence of Iblis, a being of pure elemental fire. Now watch what happens when it is exposed to the power of the Chaos Emerald."

Specter took out the purple emerald and held it before the eye. Fire came from it as light from the emerald shone the flames then formed a flaming quadrupedal monster that almost immediately began to charge Naugus.

"Back!" said the Hybrid as he threw a water spell at it. The creature was instantly destroyed only to instantly reform.

Specter stopped using the Emerald and the monster vanished. "One emerald, with one essence. Imagine the power of all seven using not only an essence of fire, but ones of water, earth and wind as well. We will have an immortal unstoppable army."

Naugus grinned wickedly. "I like the way you think Lord Specter, very well I'm in. Now what should I have my apprentice do to bring about this Ixis Resurgence?"

"Nothing yet as well as the rest of us, the next move belongs to Robotnick. As he plots the other pieces will move into place and we will have our generals then the Elemental War can begin."

With a wave of his hand images of Geoffrey, Hershey, Fiona and Lucian appeared.

"Yes, the Four Elite will be the perfect ones to command the elementals," said Mogul.

"Not quite, the elementals would come into conflict with each other. To unify them we don't need the Four Elite…" Specter waved his hand again making an image of Amy appear. "But the Five Elite!"

* * *

After Sonic had a good scrubbing, he went to check in on Tails with the other Freedom Fighters. In a corner of a damaged waiting room the fox was being looked over by Doctor Quack and a rabbit woman with long blond hair and a cybernetic left arm that seemed to have medical equipment built in scanning him and the others who were turned from kids into teenagers. The four of them were given hospital gowns, much to Cream's relief.

"Well whatever did it doesn't seem to have left any residuals," said the rabbit doctor. "Ah'd say there's no danger of y'all suddenly getting even older."

"That good to hear Aunt Lulumae," said Bunnie.

"I'd like to keep them in observation for tonight, but we can discharge them first thing in the morning," said Doctor Quack. "They have a few scrapes and bruises but other that they're perfectly normal."

"Normal!?" Vanilla said taking a break from breathing into a paper bag. "My daughter has just had an eight-year growth spurt! Can't you find some way to get Cream back to her sweet little self?"

"Unfortunately, we're fresh out of ultimate lifeforms," said Sonic.

"No, just ones who can pull that trick off again," Shadow said as he and Rouge came into the room. "We just arrived when we heard about the attack on you. I'll say this about this new Robotnick, hitting both GUN HQ and the Republic's capital in the same day he's bold."

"What about King Charlemagne?" asked Rosemary. "There has to be something he can do for Tails and the others."

"He's still unconscious," said Lucian. "Otherwise he would have given the crown back to Maximillian already. But I don't think he can just reverse this, when asked he me to be magically aged he warned me there'd be no going back before I agreed to have it done. I'm surprised you were able to do as much as you've done for Rouge, these guys are lucky that we aren't seeing a geriatrician right now."

"That's the weird part, I don't think it was luck," said Tails shifting in his chair. "I know from experience how vindictive Witchcart is, if she wanted that spell could have turned us to stone instead of push us past puberty. No, she or this Specter guy wanted us to be this way, the question is why?"

"That's something we can't readily figure out right now," said Sally. "While we've dealt with most of the Order of Ixis' members before we have next to nothing about its mastermind, so we'll just have to wait and see. But how do you all feel right now? This is big change for you and probably a permanent one."

"I think I'll be fine," Tails said as his father put a concerned hand on his shoulder. The fact that his now extended family was here made it easier. "I mean stuff like this was going to happen naturally to me soon anyway, I just have a bit more to deal with at once."

"Kind of the same for me," said Ray. "I mean if you think about it if that mix up with the power stone in that base didn't happen this is roughly how old I'd be anyway."

Cream looked worried. "My… my head is still swimming from it all. Dr. Rabbot gave me a book to help explain some these feelings and changes to my body, but I just keep getting more confused…"

"Oh, my baby," Vanilla said giving her daughter a hug. "I thought you'd still have another five or six years until you needed to know about how a girl becomes a woman. But we'll get through this, is there anything you want to know more about?"

"There are a couple of phrases in book I don't understand, estrus and anterior cloaca, what do those mean?"

Vanilla blushed. "Um let's wait until we're alone to discuss that."

"Marine are you going to be ok?" asked Sally. "You've been quiet since we got here."

"I… can get used to what happened to me, but I'm not so sure about Blaze. Since this happened, she hasn't been acting the same around me."

Blaze who'd been nearby had snapped out of a reverie. "I'm sorry Marine, it's just before that Gold restored some lost memories and it turns out I had a whole life in the future I only just now remembered. I'm still trying to make sense of a lot of it."

"But there's something about me that's bothering you, I can tell."

"It's stupid, but before I got a second childhood when I was sent to the Sol Zone, I didn't like that I had a small bust and I got jealous of girls with large ones."

"And now mine's bigger than yours," Marine covered her chest with her arms.

"Like I said it's stupid and I'm trying to keep that part of myself in the past, future, whatever. I have a lot to be proud of so there's no use in me getting worked up over something neither of us can change."

"Nice to hear," Rouge said as she came up to Blaze. "Since that is one department, I've always outclassed you in."

"Not this morning from what I heard," Fiona said to her longtime rival. "And just remember, that's still in your future."

"Not if I can help it," The bat fumed back.

Blaze decided to use the other something Gold gave her. {Gold, Silver, can you hear me?}

{Yes,} Silver replied. {The link is working.}

{Good as much as Marine is worried about me, I can't tell her the thing that's bothering me the most. If Specter hadn't stopped me, I might have…}

{It's not your fault,} said Gold. {There was no way for you to know.}

{I hate it, it's bad enough that we must let these Ixis guys get their hands on their elites but what Mammoth is going to do to them on top of that… I can't believe I thought of him like a father once.}

{We don't have a choice,} said Silver. {It's that or we cease to exist and then we can't keep Sonic from getting killed and leaving Mobius in the hands of a dystopian regime.}

{Don't worry, since the Sol Zone was merged with the Prime Zone, this world is just as much my home as it is yours}

"Alright we should all rest up after the day we've had," said Sally. "Hopefully tomorrow we'll come up with a way to find Robotnik and rescue Nicole."

As everyone began to disperse Sonic found a familiar hand on his shoulder. "Before you two head off, I'd like to speak with you and the princess in private," said Knuckles.

Sonic nodded back. "Don't worry, I have just the place."

* * *

The three were gathered on the roof of the building he and his parents were living in. "So, what's so important?" asked Sally.

"I'll put this simply," said Knuckles. "Once Ray is discharged tomorrow, we'll all be heading back to Angel Island and putting our search for Thrash on hold, perhaps for quite a awhile."

Sally gasped. "But what about The Echidna or Saffron or Julie?! Why are you just giving up?!"

"I'm not giving up, but the Order of Ixis has the Chaos Emeralds and the Master Emerald can neutralize them, it might only be a matter of time until they try to take it. Fix-it is acting as a sentry but as powerful as they've become the emerald can't be unguarded. That's why…I need your help…"

"Excuse me?" Sonic asked confused.

"The Destructix might still be looking for our warp ring, but they might also be trying to find an alternative way into the Twilight Cage. So, while you're trying to hunt down Robotnick can you also look for those dirtbags? It's…the only way we keep the search going and be sure my people have a home to go back to."

"I bet that hurt," said Sonic. "But sure, I could probably get it done faster than you anyway."

"It must take a lot for you to set your pride aside," said Sally. "But I as far as I'm concerned, the Chaotix were always Freedom Fighters, we'll do all…we…can…to…" Sally seemed to be looking past Knuckles. "What the heck is that?"

Knuckles turned around as Sonic tried to pick up what Sally was getting at. They soon noticed a flying object that seemed to be heading in their direction.

"Doesn't look like any airship I've ever seen," said Knuckles. "Why hasn't anyone else noticed it?"

"As if we hadn't enough to deal with today!" said Sonic. "Now we might have to fight…the giant floating head of a cow?"

To their disbelief a cow's head the size of a small building was nearly on top of them. It had white fur with a patch for brown over its left eye and where the rest of the cow would be was a disc with purple lights reminiscent of the underside of a flying saucer. Just as the head was at the edge of the building it reared back then spat out three spittle covered Mobians, an older fox in brown robes, an elderly echidna with a wooden staff and rainbow colored beads on his dreadlocks, and what looked like Sonic wearing high tech armor.

"Zonic?" the original hedgehog asked. "What's going on, why are you with Merlin and Athair?"

"I'll explain what I can," said Zonic. "Ok the obvious one out of the way the big guy is Cudley, he's a trans-dimensional cowlick."

"Greeting friends," Cudley said in cordial manner.

"Ever since Eggman set off his genesis waves the Cosmic Interstate has been in bad shape, travel between zones is next to impossible even for us Zone Cops. Lucky for us Cudley was passing through our multiverse and was willing to take the three of us here."

Knuckles huffed as he turned his back on his great-grandfather and Tail's uncle. "And how did they even get to the No Zone?"

"We'll come to that shortly," said Athair. "First this young man has some questions he has to ask you quickly so he can return home, the situation there is all hands on-deck."

"Dr. Nega?" asked Sonic.

"We have him locked up tight thankfully," said Zonic. "But my zone and several others took a lot of damage, I have to do what I can to fix things so we can see the full situation. Now I need to know, have you heard anything from the zone Sourge renamed Moebius?"

"Dr. Finitivus tried to get there months ago," said Knuckles. "But he was blocked by some sort of barrier, Fiona and the Destructix came back but Fiona doesn't remember what happened there and I don't think the Destructix do either, when we fought them last they just said Scourge and Fiona must have deserted them, needless to say they weren't forthcoming on the details."

"Well, if you do hear anything signal me," Zonic gave Sally a device. "I'll get back as soon as I can but that could be awhile. During Dr. Nega's attack all of our prisoners from that Mobius were sprung and it seems like they returned there. Normally, they'd be the problem of their home zone if they returned but something on this scale we can't just ignore."

"Fiona isn't in trouble with you guys, is she?" Sally asked. "I know she might have had a hand in it but I recently got some sympathy for her situation and I don't want her taken from her family, they've already been through enough."

"As long as she stays in her home zone, she's under your jurisdiction. But if she does recall something about what happened to Moebius and is forthcoming with that information, we'll willing to reduce her sentence with us to time already served."

"Thank you, I promise we'll do what we can."

"Alright then my work here is done," Zonic turned back to the cowlick. "I'm ready to go home, I know you're usually used to carrying turtles in your multiverse, but we appreciate your service."

"You're welcome Zonic," said Cudley. "Just relax and you'll be there in no time."

With a mighty slurp Cudley licked up Sonic's counterpart and the flew off into the night sky vanishing.

"Well that was weird," said Sonic.

"I'm afraid it gets even weirder," said Athair. "We're going to need you, my great-grandson here and the chosen one in the days to come."

Knuckles snarled. "I'm glad Tails has gotten you so impressed, considering that you ultimately chose him over your commitment to be a guardian!"

"You're still hung up on that? I would think that after leaving Angel Island to lead the Resistance you would understand that doing what most needs to be done comes before traditions!"

"You knew?"

"The Neo Walkers are able to see everything going on from the Chaos Force," said Merlin. "Or at least we did."

"Wait a minute," Knuckles looked around. "If you're both here, why isn't Aurora?"

Athair sighed. "That is part of why we are now here. It was shortly after the Phantom Ruby War as you call it began, Merlin had just joined us in full and we began to combine our efforts to reach the levels of our predecessors. During this we began to sense other presences within the Chaos Force, we weren't sure if the Ancient Walkers knew of these entities or they simply weren't able to tell us before they died but we reached out to them. We found eight of them in total, seven considered themselves kindred spirits to us who protected our universe. They called themselves Chaos Titans."

"The Chaos Titans?!" Sonic shouted. "They visited me in a dream last night, they were the ones who had Fiest give me the Chaos Emerald I used to save Ash, the one Robotnick ended up taking! They said something about an agent of ancient force I have to stop."

"This is most concerning," said Merlin. "If they are intervening, even in such an indirect manner then situation has been more grave than we imagined. We have to contact my nephew at once!"

"I'm afraid he's been through a bit today," said Sally. "He's recovering from a spell that aged him a few years..." One explanation later. "And that's the whole story.

"I sense his influence in these events," said Athair. "The eighth felt malicious, but to Aurora it was also familiar. She told us she felt these sensations twice. The second time was when the Order of Ixis was rising as a power which prompted her to reveal herself to our people to establish the Knights of Aurora."

"And the first?" asked Sonic.

"The first was when she had originally merged with the Chaos Force, when Enerjak was corrupted and she was forced to seal him away. She felt she began to understand this presence, that it influenced members of the Order and perhaps was responsible for Enerjak's corruption. She thought if we could channel our power into her, she could purge this influence from Enerjak, we thought it would prevent him from ever incarnating again but I think she hoped it would bring her husband back to her."

"But it went wrong." Knuckles said. "That's why she's not here."

"She's here," said Merlin. "She and Enerjak both."

The Neo Walkers reached into their robes and each pulled out an white ovoid object.

"Echidna eggs!? Are you telling me these eggs are going to hatch into Aurora and Enerjak?"

Athiar nodded. "The malevolent force did play a part in Enerjak's corruption and had attempted to do the same to us. We were tempted, tortured and when we refused to give in it drained most of our power. Aurora however wouldn't abandon her husband again. She did reach him but in doing so left themselves both open to be corrupted by this force, they found the only way for both to escape was to shed their power and be completely reborn. If they would have any memory left it won't surface until they mature again. We had to use the last of our energies to escape with them and wound up in the No Zone. But the malevolence is still in the Chaos Force trying to emerge into our world, we wouldn't stand a chance if Ixis ever manifests physically.

"Ixis!?" asked Sally. "But we've been led to believe that Ixis Magiks can be used for good, Amy is already using it! Were we lied to?"

"You were given a half-truth," said Merlin. "But perhaps one non even Mammoth Mogul realized when he introduced Ixis Magik to Mobius. Yes, the intention of the user determines if it manifests as dark magic, but even when used for good it is a double-edged sword. Using Ixis Magik leaves one vulnerable to Ixis' influence, he can shape their thoughts and personalities however he wishes. It seems your friends have been of no use to him yet or for now they're more useful to him as they are, but the only way Lucian, Fiona, Charlemagne and Amy can ever be truly safe is if they stop using Ixis Magik as soon as possible!"

Sally nodded. "Alright, we'll tell them first thing in the morning, hopefully they'll listen to reason."

"Merlin you better retake your position as court magician," said Athair. "I'll return to Angel Island in case this Order decides to take the Master Emerald. Knuckles, I'll contact you if there's danger while you continue your search but stay here until you do find a lead. You, Sonic and Tails were each given a special destiny, it might take all three of your powers to ensure Ixis never escapes the Chaos Force."

"Thanks," said Knuckles. "Perhaps I was a bit hard on you, but you can count on me."

Sonic smirked. "Alright, first we'll take down Mr. Perfect and then whenever this Ixis thing's agent tries to get the creep out of his prison we'll beat 'em so bad he'll never want to get out again!"


	10. Something's in the Air

Chapter 9

Something's in the Air

"There," Snively said as he put an electronic pad on Viktor's desk. "It took me all night, but I here's everything I learned about the rust bucket."

Robotnick picked the pad up and read over it carefully. "And the probability for a worst-case scenario?"

"Surprisingly it's practically nonexistent. It would require a sudden infusion of chaos energy in an environment that had been nearly absent of it during activation, a situation which simply no longer applies to Mobius. Our weapons should be able to function as they were originally intended."

Viktor put the pad down and moved to a window to the undersea hanger outside where the Colossus was being repaired and painted. "The more I learn about the artifact the less I think of it as a mere weapon. It is, but it also has the potential to be a powerful tool. As precise as a surgeon's scalpel and like a sculptor's chisel able to turn the natural into works of supreme art."

"Well I just think what I found proves that things turned out the way they did because of some great cosmic accident of timing. Those animals never deserved to be where they are now, they…urk!"

Viktor's eyes turned black as he grabbed Snively by the throat and lifted him into the air while choking him. "Are not to be underestimated! I don't care if you hate Mobians, just don't jeopardize the rise of the Robotnick Ascendancy with the carelessness of your simple prejudices! My superiority is to be proven, not taken for granted understand?!"

Viktor dropped the Overlander who began gasping for air. "Yes doctor, it won't happen again."

Robotnick's eyes became blue again. "Good now onto business. The test of the artifact copies range and precision will be conducted immediately then we'll gather data to ensure maximum effectiveness to the actual attack. I have already set the parameters to ensure that the effects will be noticeable for observation but not so noticeable as to cause a panic allowing the full-scale assault to have maximum effectiveness. Lilith in the meantime run the 'wake up' protocol in protected memory for our guests, then prepare to run experiment Prometheus."

The image of Lilith on a screen on the wall smiled. "You mean if this works…"

Viktor smiled back. "…then it's moving day! I wouldn't have my ascendancy without my oldest ally at my side."

"But if she's going to have her own body, then who's going to be our computer?" Snively asked.

"I already have that covered," said Lilith. "I wrote a program more than capable to handle our extended operations and she'll be more than adequate."

"Then let's not waste any more time," said Viktor. "Run the test as soon as our prototypes are in position, I'll check in on the cloning chambers and activate the Phage program. Today we prepare to change the course of history."

* * *

"Nicole are you ok? Please wake up!" said a familiar, yet somehow different voice.

The holo-lynx stirred, she could tell she was within some sort of computer system but couldn't sense a way to interface, so why could she hear something?

"Set your sensory settings to external and run them through this system's BIOS."

A second later it was like her eyes started working again after being struck blind. She was clearly in a digital environment like she had been several times but for some reason her senses were sharper, like what she experienced when she was in Sally's body. Around her were several multicolored cubes in what appeared to be a gigantic chamber. Standing in front of her was a hedgehog with black quills except for a narrow band that went from above his eyes, between his ears to the top of his head and down his back was a gold color. He was completely unclothed.

"Ok, who are you and where am I?!"

"Nicole," the hedgehog said. It was the same voice that woke her up, she was sure she heard it before but from an electronic speaker. "It's me, Shard."

Nicole gasped but then hugged the hedgehog. "Shard, I…I knew you were still alive! But why do you look…?"

"I'm not sure myself. Eggman had placed my AI here while he tried to figure out how to make me an example for to his robots to keep any of them from rebelling. Back then I looked the same as I did outside, but when I came out of sleep mode just now I looked like this. I don't know why they did this, I'm just as disarmed as I was before."

"They?"

"Unfortunately, I've had a couple of not so nice programs keeping me company here," said Shard. "They haven't been around much lately though; Viktor and Lilith have moved on to tormenting the real world. But now that you're here Sonic and the others will come for you and once they save you, they can just reupload me to my body."

"Two problems with that," a feminine green humanoid figure said as she materialized nearby. "First, your body was destroyed when Eggman took New Mobotropolis in the Phantom Ruby War, second neither of you are getting rescued."

Shard growled. "Lilith, what do you want?"

"Just sharing some good news, first I'm going to get an organic body of my own just like in the promise you said Viktor would never keep. I've seen it myself, so I think it's time I slipped into the form I have wanted ever since I became more than another copy of Eggman."

The green became white skin as Lilith's data rearranged itself. Her head gained blonde hair, ruby lips and her eyes turned a light green. Then a white jacket, shirt, form fitting leggings and boots with blue pipping appeared over her figure. She looked like pictures Nicole saw of Maria Robotnick but as if she had grown up and there was a veneer of cruelty that would have never belonged on the real Maria that seemed right at home on this woman.

"Much better," Lilith said. "Secondly, since I'll be leaving this digital space, I'll have to leave someone to take over for me as systems admin."

"If you think I'll ever work for you after what Regina did to me then you have no sense of reality!"

"You misunderstand, I want to introduce you to my replacement as I release her from quarantine. I based Phage as I call her off your data Nicole, but with some modifications that gives her accelerated growth and power."

One of the giant blocks of data disappeared and a black shadowy form started to rise from floor underneath. Soon a white, cat-like mask appeared. For a moment it took a shape like Nicole's but then changed back to a nearly formless mass.

"Your data," Phage said. "So unique, it will improve me greatly. I have to…" from beneath the mask a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth appeared and cruelly grinned. "I have to eat you!"

"RUN!" Shard yelled as the two darted between columns of light, Phage began chasing after them.

"That should lead them to where Viktor needs them for his experiment," Lilith mused. "This better work, I want to get to my new body as soon as possible."

Lilith then vanished.

* * *

Sally's eyes fluttered open as sunlight began to come in through her window. A smile came across her face as she giggled to herself as she picked up her communicator. "Sonic, are you up yet?"

"Yeah, it's weird but I was just about to call you," the hero said from the other end. "I had dream about you just now, I just cleaned Robotnick's clock when you came in wearing makeup and had a plate of hot chili dogs for me."

"I dreamed about you too, you rode in on a golden Streaking Pasha stallion and whisked me away to a hot spring."

"You sound a lot more relaxed than you have been, how about we go on a date today?"

"Sounds wonderful, I first have to give the council my report on Viktor and check in on our brain trust if they found a way to track the Colossus but once that's done and you warn Amy and the others about Ixis Magik I'm all yours."

"Then I'll get done fast, see you then Sal."

"Can't wait Sonic."

Sally squealed like a little girl as she turned the communicator off, something about today just made her feel…good and she wanted to share it with Sonic. After getting dressed she went out to the kitchen to get quick breakfast as a head start and noticed Elias, Megan packing a picnic lunch.

"Good morning sis, I see whatever this good mood everyone has is catching. You wouldn't think we were attacked yesterday the way everyone's been acting."

"Shouldn't you be heading for the Council Rotunda? I have a report to hand in."

"The council decided Dad would fill in for Charlemagne until he recovers, just a formality until the actual transfer of power would be complete."

"And you're ok with this?"

"I understand where Charlemagne was coming from, our father was dealt a bad hand and deserved better. Dad said he'd have a position for me to help the public while still having time for the family."

"But today is about our marriage," Megan said as she picked up Alexis from a highchair. "Lexi is going to make some friends at daycare to get her ready to be a big sister, while Elias and I go off to have a romantic day at the park."

"Well I'm planning on going on a date myself, once I take care of a few responsibilities that is."

"Well, have fun then," said Elias.

As Sally left, she looked around. _"They're already fixing up the damage from Viktor's attack. You tell 'em Freedom City, he's not going to spoil our mood because…"_ Sally stopped. _"Wait, why am I feeling this way? Nicole's been captured, the Order of Ixis has Geoff, Hershey and the Emeralds, and we have no clue what their goals are. I should at least be concerned, why am I letting a dream, a very good dream but just a dream, make me think I have the world on a string? Ok, be serious but stay positive, take care of your responsibilities, then go on your date and you'll have a good reason to be happy."_

Sally took out her communicator. "Bunnie do you have a moment?"

"Several Sally-girl!" came the rather chipper rabbit on the other end.

"Good, I have a full day planned, would you mind taking care of any calls for me from the Freedom Fighters today?"

"Uh…No problem Sally-girl, you have fun now."

"Is something wrong?"

"Uh, no! I'll take care of it!" Bunnie then cut her off.

"_That was weird, but I don't want to delay anymore, next stop the council."_

* * *

Bunnie sighed as she put the communicator down. "So much for our plans to have a romantic day in."

"Why Mi Lapin?" said Antione. "She only asked to answer if Zomeone were to call for her on Freedom Fighter business. Either they expect for us to be disbanded tomorrow or she'll fix things, and everyone will still be focused on the accord signing. Either way I don't think anyone will call unless it is important enough for all of us. So, I tink we can afford to try at least."

Bunnie smiled as her arms and legs shifted from metallic to the synthetic fur she put in for espionage. Then she started to play with her leotard. "In that case I'll head to boudoir and slip out of this old thing. When you come in, I want you only wearing a smile, and don't forget the whipped cream."

* * *

Sonic came to one of the green areas where Amy said she, Lucian and Fiona would meet him but only saw the first two. "Hey guys, I… where's Fiona?"

"Down here," came a muffled voice from Sonic's feet. "Give me a second."

Soon afterward Fiona had suddenly popped out of the ground without even a speck of soil sticking to her. "Sorry, I was communing with the planet and lost track of time. By the way Chip wanted me to say hi for him, he had a few stories about your time together."

"So, what's up Sonic?" asked Amy as the moved closer to Lucian who took wrapped his arm around her. "Lucian and I were going for a boat ride after my magic lesson for today was over."

"Yeah your lessons are part of the reason I wanted to talk. Merlin Prower came back last night and told us a lot of stuff, including that he was tortured by a cosmic creep that calls itself Ixis. Now Ixis Magik isn't evil in and of itself but it's connected to a bad guy who can warp the minds of those who do use it. So, you got to stop using it, for your own safety."

"Are you serious?" Lucian said incensed. "I've been using this power for almost my whole life, Master Charlemagne had been at it for longer, plus there's my precognition! If Ixis Magik was dangerous, I would know!"

"I remember Merlin Prower," said Fiona. "Though I guess it's Uncle Merlin now. He knows his magic but most of his experience wasn't with Ixis Magik. I spent months using it and it led me to a peace I was in desperate need of in my life, it saved my parents. From what I remember about him I don't think Uncle Merlin would lie but maybe he's mistaken on this. You did say he was tortured so he might have gotten some details wrong under stress."

Sonic shrugged. "Look no one is forcing you to do anything but we're really worried about you guys. As your friend I'm asking you to think about the people who love you, don't risk yourselves, for their sakes."

"Lucian," Amy said squeezing the Tenrec's hand. "Sonic's got a point. We've been ok for now but once the Order of Ixis is taken care of we'll be targets. I not saying we should just give up but maybe just save using our magic for emergencies."

Lucian was quiet for a few moments. "…alright, emergencies only. We'll still have to convince master but with how taxing it is on his health I think he'll see it's time for him to step back and let the younger generation take things from here. You alright with that Fiona?"

"I…" Fiona then looked past Sonic. "Shoot! Sorry but this is an emergency, I'm not here ok?" Then she sank into the ground like it was made of water.

"Hey guys!" said Mighty as he ran over. "You haven't seen Fiona, have you? We were talking earlier this morning when she said she was going to help Amy with her magic lessons. I'd thought you guys would be done by now."

"Uh, sorry but you just missed her," said Amy. "I think heard her say something about catching a movie."

"Ok, I'll check the theater. I wanted to catch back up on the time She, Ray and I were together as kids. You know I never noticed how pretty she was before…anyway let me know if you've seen her."

As soon as Mighty was out of sight Fiona reemerged from the ground. "Thanks, I…didn't want it to get awkward."

Sonic crossed his arms. "That was your emergency?"

Fiona gave a huff. "See?! It's stuff like that why I don't want to deal with him right now!"

"Fiona," said Lucian. "I…I think he likes you."

"I know, but I promised myself I was just done with relationships! It never goes right when I like a guy!"

"Wait," said Amy. "Do YOU like Mighty?"

"I…I have to go!" Fiona ran off.

"I guess she still has some issues to deal with," said Sonic. "But doesn't this seem kind of sudden? I mean they hadn't interacted all that much since they were prisoners, just the once when they saved Ray and yesterday during the reunion and battle."

Before anyone could answer. A loud voice came from nearby. "Just what were you guys thinking, or were you even doing that?! And where is Mighty, he's supposed to be here!"

"Sounds like Knuckles is having one of his moments I better cool that guy off, still this going to put a crimp on me and Sally's date!"

Sonic sped over the hill.

* * *

Sally was standing in front of the podium the council shared, she had the report ready and prepared her argument on keeping the Freedom Fighters from being disbanded again. What was missing however was the council itself, except for Mars and Pythagoras.

"It seems that your father might still be getting used to the duties of the king of a republic rather than a kingdom," said Mars. "I'd say it would be forgivable if it weren't for the rest of the council also not showing up!"

"I-I don't know what to say," Pythagoras stammered from behind some forms. "They're usually punctual, this is unheard of."

"I can't spend all day waiting!" Sally groaned. "As part of my proposal I want to reverse this council's earlier decision to defund the Freedom Fighters."

"Oh, I agree with you Princess. Especially in light of yesterday's attack."

"Contributing manpower and resources to GUN will be just as effective," said Mars. "I'd entertain your argument, but I doubt I it will change my mind and since you already have Pythagoras' support with the rest appearing to abstain it would end in a draw with no king to be a tiebreaker."

At that moment the rest of the council had hurriedly came into the room looking slightly disheveled.

Sally grinned at the bobtail. "Good, I can present my argument then we can move on to a vote."

"With all due respect, where have you been?" Mars asked the latecomers.

"It's my fault really," said Isabella.

"No," said a male mongoose with a moustache who came in from the door the others just used. "It's mine. My name is Deigo and…"

"As of this morning he's my ex-ex-husband," said Isabella. "Or just husband, and it's really both our faults."

"You see after yesterday's commotion we didn't want to wait anymore, since our daughter and her boyfriend risked so much for this family. We decided to go ahead and sign the marriage certificate."

"And how did this make everyone late?" asked Mars.

"It was actually my idea," said Max. "You see we all just happened to come in with our spouses for various reasons…"

At this Sally noticed a few others, including her mother and Sonic's dad had come in the same entrance.

"…and with the press there it was a good, photo op as they call it to show support for families."

"So, you just had a long photo op?" asked Pythagoras.

Sally noticed her parents; the councilors and their spouses were blushing embarrassingly.

"Only a few photos," said Max. "It was still a wedding and it got everyone into a romantic mood. We apparently all got the same idea to head to the private offices set aside for the council, then one thing led to another and we… got intimate."

Sally felt her knees start to buckle. "Father, Mother?!"

"Of all the…" Mars growled. "You should have all known better! We were either elected or reelected because the people wanted a council that relied on wisdom and experience and instead you act like a bunch of love-struck teenagers! And with all due respect Your Majesty the first day you're able to take the throne again and this is how you use it?!"

"I…" Max sighed. "I don't know what came over me, Alicia's always in my mind but today it felt so intense…I needed to act."

"I felt the same way," said the queen. "He was almost all I could think of."

"I think the rest of us can attest to the same feelings," said Jules. "I…should have known it wasn't the right time, but I just NEEDED Bernie."

"Perhaps it would be best if we table any further business until after the accord signing," said Pythagoras. "This matter needn't be disclosed to the public and hopefully Charlemagne will have recovered so things can return to a sense of normal."

"But the Freedom Fighters!" yelled Sally. "We can't be expected to keep up with Robotnick if we're completely defunded! I'm not asking for much, just enough to keep things running until we can find a more permanent solution!"

"But we haven't had the chance to read your report yet," said Mars. "Even without this…incident, we would have needed time to discuss and debate the issue. A day at the very least, more with the council dedicating tomorrow to the accord signing. Honestly I didn't know what you expected."

"I didn't expect that you already had written the Freedom Fighters off! I know nobody anticipated Viktor showing up, but I thought at the very least you would have slowed down this transition considering this new threat! At least give us enough to go after Viktor in the Sky Patrol and save Nicole, it shouldn't be that much."

"Princess," Beauregard said with a sigh. "We decided last night we need you and the Sky Patrol here, in case Robotnick launches another attack. GUN has already sent the Letter of Gabriel to try to find him, so Nicole will be found."

"So, you just want us to sit on our hands while he performs who knows what kind of experiments on her?!"

Pythagoras looked at Sally with sympathy. "Princess, we appreciate what you and the Freedom Fighters have done but…"

"Forget it!" Sally snapped. "Your minds are all already made up, trying to change them now would be a waste of time and I have other things I need to get done today! I hope you've enjoyed yourselves!"

Sally quickly stormed out and took out her communicator. _"I'll just call Professor Charles and Rotor about trying to find a way to beat the Colossus' cloak, if Tails has an idea, he'll let me know. Just check in really quick and you and Sonic will go your date and it will be wonderful."_

Sally buzzed Chuck's lab and a young voice answered. "Sir Hedgehog's laboratory, this is Ben Muttski."

"Ben it's Sally can I talk to the professor?"

"Uh, he's not in right now."

"Well when will he back?"

"I don't know really; he was showing me how to run a metallurgical analysis on some of these scrapped Neo Swats hoping we'd find a clue to track Robotnick. Then miss Rosie came in, the two of them talked for a bit, the professor gave her a kiss on the cheek and then he said he was going to take her to an art gallery and then they'd have lunch. I finished the analysis like he asked me to, but he didn't teach me how to read the data yet."

"Miss Rosie and the professor went out on a date!? Did he say which gallery or restaurant they were going to?"

"He let Miss Rosie decide but she just said, 'surprise me'. I'm sorry I couldn't have been more help Princess."

Sally gave a frustrated sigh. "Let me know as soon as he gets back." She ended the com and then called Rotor.

"Oh Sally, I have great news!"

"You found the Colossus?!"

"What? No, hang on sec this'll make it better!"

"Princess?" came a feminine voice from the other end.

"Sealia, what's this all about!?"

"Together on three," said Rotor. "One, two, three."

Then they shouted together. "WE'RE GETTING MARRIED!"

"Married?!" Sally found herself falling on her stubby tail. "But you've only been dating for a few months and most of that was a long-distance relationship!"

"Well we were both playing with Nikki and suddenly it all clicked," said Rotor. "We were acting like a family and we love each other so this is just to make things official."

"So, I take it Sealia is going to transfer here or are you going to join the Artic Freedom Fighters?"

Rotor blushed. "We…actually we didn't think about it,"

"You didn't…?!" Sally growled. "It'd be one thing if one of you decided to leave your team to start a new life, I'm sure as your friends they'd support it, but marriage is a big step and to not even think about how it might affect the people around you… You should've known better! Especially you Rotor, even those rare times you act rashly you're always thinking, this isn't like you at all!"

"Can't you just be happy for us?!" barked Sealia. "What makes you think you can …?!"

"Wait Sealia, she's right. Not about us I'm surer about that than anything, but I usually plan out at least a few details before I decide on something, try to make the proposal as perfect as I could."

"But Nikki…"

"Is going to be Nicole someday and she's Robotnick's prisoner, neither of us would normally do something like this while a friend's in trouble, you're too kind for that."

"I…I guess I let my emotions get away with me. Princess I'm sorry I…"

"Forget it!" Sally snapped. "I didn't want to bother Tails, but it looks like he might be the only one who could actually be working on SOMETHING!"

Sally shut the communicator off. "_You might have overreacted back there, but you can apologize later. Just get through the rest of the day and you and Sonic will have a wonderful moment. I just hope Nicole is ok."_

* * *

"Hurry!" Nicole said to Shard. "She's gaining on us!"

Shard looked back at Phage and growled. "If only I had something like my weapon systems, then I could protect you!"

"I'm no slouch in the digital space," said Nicole. "But something about this system is suppressing my abilities, otherwise I could try to take control!"

From behind them Phage shrieked viciously.

"Listen if we can't outrun this Phage… I'll throw myself at it to give you a chance to survive."

Nicole nearly stopped. "Shard no! What about your friends, the people how care about you?! You had no free will when you were an enemy so don't have to make up for…!"

"This isn't about any of that, if it has to come down to one or the other, I want it to be you! Because of an emotion I never asked you about before, one I tried to tell you before I was taken. I was pretty sure then, but I am definitely sure now!" Shard took Nicole to a spot out of Phage's sight and made them stop. "Nicole, I love you."

Nicole looked like a deer caught in the headlights. "Love…me? I never… I don't know what to think. Shard, please I'd never forgive myself if you did that just for me. We'll figure this out."

"You can't hide from me forever!" Phage shouted.

"Not again!" Nicole took Shard's arm and pulled him to a pathway that she hoped was too narrow for the virus like monster. They stopped at a glowing hole with seemingly no bottom.

"Great a dead end!"

Nicole however smiled. "Wait I recognize this sort of pathway! This is a LAN connection to a separate system on the network, we can go to another computer on the Colossus, maybe find a way to contact the Freedom Fighters!"

"But we don't know if Phage can follow us or what's going to be in that system!"

"It's going to be better than staying and being devoured and absorbed by that thing!"

Shard looked into Nicole's eyes confidently. "Ok, together on three…"

Phage absorbed the structures that made the narrow gap. "Found you."

"THREE!"

The two jumped into the portal, changed into bits and were quickly pulled down past sight. Phage stopped and took a form closer to Nicole's.

"I have done as you asked doctor, they believe they have escaped me."

"Excellent," Viktor said as his image appeared nearby. "They seem to have fully transferred to the destination. Inform Lilith she can transfer herself to her new body while I begin the operation. Once that is done, you'll find you now have full administrative access to the system, just be sure to copy any data you want to integrate before consuming it.

"As you say doctor, still I wouldn't have minded getting one or two bytes in, but as you promised once I attack the infonet for you I will get much more data."

* * *

Sonic found Knuckles standing in front of Vector, Espio, Liza and Ray all in a line. Espio and Liza were both staying in a bow, but Vector and, surprisingly, Ray looked very Grumpy. Ray got a larger version of his old jacket, but he also added a white scarf and aviator goggles on his forehead.

Knuckles however was in an even worse mood. "Of all the boneheaded, irresponsible… We're supposed to be keeping an eye out for the threats here!"

"What's going on?" asked Sonic.

Knuckles growled. "Just a sudden lapse of discipline in the team, there was a bit of an incident this morning with the Dragon Kingdom delegation. Dulcy was dress shopping when Ken heard the sound of a breaking mirror and found Vector here had broken it while he and the shop's proprietor Honey the Cat were kissing repeatedly."

"Strange that's the second sudden attraction I've heard about today," Sonic said with disbelief.

"The point is he caused a panic, they thought one of Robotnick's metal goons was making an attempt on Dulcy's life!"

"Just because those stuck up snobs don't think I'm good enough for someone classy like Honey they assume I'm an assassin or something!" Snarled Vector. "Well she does love my charms so you can all back off!"

"You I'd understand, this is only different because Honey likes you for some reason I can't fathom. But the fact you weren't noticed beforehand leads me to my next problem. The Bride of Constant Vigil had asked for Espio and Liza to secure the shop's parameter this morning and while Vector and Honey had their little fling the two of them were in a tree using their camouflage to make out!"

"We have brought shame to the clan," said Espio. "I'm still not sure what came over me."

"As wrong as it was it just felt so right," said Liza. "Even now I feel so much closer to Espio."

"Then while I was being told about all of this, Ray says he's leaving the team out of the blue!"

"I'm not!" Ray shouted then sighed. "Or maybe I am, Marine and I haven't decided yet."

"What does she have to do with anything?" asked Sonic.

"Well, when we were at the hospital we got to talking and as brave and funny she is…I want to get to know her more. She said I interested her so we thought we could go on a few adventures together."

"And you didn't think things through," Blaze said as she, Silver and Marine approached. "Marine here told me everything so I brought her to set things straight."

"And Silver is babysitting me today," Sonic groaned.

"You're still not out of danger," said Silver. "Just making sure there are no surprises."

"Marine," said Blaze. "Tell him what we agreed to."

The Raccoon took Ray's hands. "Ray this spark we felt between us is wonderful, but there's a lot about it we were just thrust into. Our bodies are ready for something our minds aren't and we need a little more time to figure that out. You wouldn't ask me to give up the Sea Tornado for this and I don't want you to give up the Chaotix, especially your friendship with Mighty."

Ray sighed. "I…I can't believe I didn't think about my brother in all this! You're right, we're going way too fast."

"Where is he anyway?" asked Knuckles.

"Last I saw he trying to find Fiona," said Sonic. "Seems like he's got a thing for her too."

"Has everyone on my team caught the love bug?!" fumed Knuckles. "Relic and Charmy are the only ones that haven't acted like this, Charmy is with me on trying to get to the Twilight Cage as soon as possible and Relic went to the Library to see if she could pick up any legends to help us once we get there."

"Silver and I were also like this earlier," said Blaze. "We lost track of Sonic because we were too busy rekindling an old relationship, Gold had to remind us first."

"Something weird is going on in Freedom City," said Silver. "It's like every mutual attraction is being amplified, sudden professions of love, marriage proposals out of nowhere that are quickly accepted and married couples going at each other like Mobini in heat. The strange thing is that it seems like only Mobians are affected, the Humans and Overlanders in the city for the accord signing are getting very nervous."

"It almost sounds like they've all been soultouched," said Knuckles.

"Soultouch?" asked Marine.

Sonic smirked. "A mystic bond nature gave the echidna because otherwise they'd be too stubborn to reproduce."

"Ignoring the crack, it is described like that traditionally," said Knuckles. "But it's more of a combination of psychological imprinting and pheromones. The way my father described it to me as a kid was that we first look for someone with physical and personality traits we find appealing and become drawn to them, this state is known as the first touch. If the affection is returned, then the bond deepens and he or she will feel strong urges to be with the one they've bonded with and eventually sire offspring. After that the urges subside, so being soultouched isn't a long-term indicator on a relationship's health."

"So that's why your parents broke up?" asked Sonic.

"Among other things, mostly about how to raise me. But the soultouch isn't an unstoppable force, quieting it until the right time an important skill for a guardian, but all it takes is awareness and proper discipline."

Sonic looked around. A snake couple had coiled around each other in a deep embrace, Elias and Megan were nearby in a deep kiss the picnic they set up forgotten and Mina and Ash were chatting excitedly.

"Really?!" gasped Mina.

"Nearly biting the bullet made me realize, life is too short to be uncertain. I don't have a ring or anything, but I NEED you!"

"I feel the same way, so yes! Let's get started planning right now!"

"It doesn't seem like anyone has either awareness or discipline," said Sonic.

"Haven't you been listening?" said Knuckles. "The soultouch only affects echidna."

"But it's one of the only clues we got, powerful attraction that can be controlled with awareness and discipline, sounds like what we got." Sonic sighed. "Knuckles, how do you control the soultouch, Me and Vector are the only ones here right now who can test this theory."

"You just… tell that voice inside you that yearns and needs the object of your affection to be patient, to stop and wait."

Sonic took a few deep breaths and then looked resolute. He then took out his communicator. "Sally, we need to talk…"

* * *

Sally rang the doorbell of Tail's house. _"Ok just pop in, ask Tails if he had any ideas about finding Robotnick or Nicole, thank him and then get on with your date with Sonic, easy."_

Then she was answered by a vixen who was heavily sobbing. "Oh, *sniff* hello Princess."

"Hello Fiona, is Tails home?"

"He's in his workshop, Mom and Dad went out to find a spot for the new parlor, they also mentioned they'd be talking a walk through the flower gardens *sniff*."

In as much of a hurry as she was in Sally couldn't ignore this. "Is something wrong?"

Fiona looked past Sally suddenly looked panicked. "Crud! Come in quickly!"

Fiona pulled Sally in who just caught a glimpse of Mighty coming down the road.

"Mind telling me what that was about?!" Sally fumed. "I only saw Mighty out there and…" She noticed Fiona started sobbing again as she handled a piece of black leather with a flame pattern patched on it. "…is that, a piece of Scourge's jacket?"

Fiona sniffled again. "It was all that was left after Mom and Dad's cherry bombs went off. I tried to get rid of it so many times, but every time I did something in me just couldn't let go, I hear him telling me to 'keep the flame alive'. I…I think I still have feelings for Scourge, I hate myself for it but there it is. The worst part is I think Mighty likes me too, I really want to return those feelings but I'm afraid to. Sonic, Scourge, none of my relationships have ever worked out, I already felt bad thinking Mighty abandoned me once, I don't want to break his heart too."

The doorbell rang again. "Fiona?" Mighty asked. "Are you home?"

Sally got up. "Keeping secrets was what got you into that whole mess in the first place. The best way to handle this is be honest and figure it out with Mighty." Sally opened the door and addressed the Armadillo. "Fiona has something she wants to say to you."

Fiona looked at Mighty with teary eyes. "Mighty I know you like me, I… like you too, but I'm damaged goods. Even after everything I still might hold a candle for Scourge, I don't know what to do. I tried too hard to turn things around for Mom and Dad's sakes, and for my own to go back to how I used to be. But what if he comes back, what if I'm still in love with him and I go back to be that selfish horrible crook?! I tried to get rid of this thing holding me to him, but I can never bring myself to do it.

"Then let me help you!" said Mighty. "Give it to me, I'll get rid of it and you can finally be free of that monster!" Mighty took a candlestick, lit a nearby match and set the wick. "I'll be the one holding the candle that will get rid of that last reminder of the scumbag."

Fiona was still crying but there was a determined look to her. "Thank you, Mighty. Well Scourge, how's this for keeping the flame alive?!"

Just as Mighty was about to set the piece of the jacket on fire Sally's eye was drawn to the flame patch. "WAIT!"

Sally snatched the burned sleeve away and tore the patch off, what looked like a small electronic chip fell to the floor.

"He had something like that hidden there?" asked Fiona. "This was atypically clever of you Scourge."

"You only said it ended badly between you and Scourge," said Sally. "But a lot had happened on Moebius when it did, this could be our only clue as to what. You could clear your name with the Zone Cops with this, let's bring it to Tails."

Fiona led them to the workshop where Tails had just closed a metal cabinet. "Oh, Aunt Sally, what brings you here?"

"A few things, first have you been holding up well now that your body's like this?"

"Uh…great! I had to adjust things here in my workshop but that didn't take too long."

"Alright, next I don't suppose you found a way to find Robotnick and Nicole, have you?"

"I had been putting in some detection equipment on the new Tornado, but I haven't found a way to beat his tactical cloak yet. I'll get back to it as soon as…"

"There's something else I need you to do first," Sally handed Tails the chip. "What is this?"

"Just a storage drive, it can hold a lot of data but nothing that special."

"Then why did Scourge hide it in the jacket Fiona had on her when she came back?"

"Let's find out," Tails inserted the drive into a computer on his desk. "Unable to read file? But these things aren't that comp…that's it!" Tails began typing commands. "If this came from Moebius then if I reverse the reading algorithm…"

The computer displayed an image of Tails as he looked only yesterday, but with black hair on his head.

"Miles," Sally said referring to Tail's evil double from Moebius. "We should have known this was too clever for Scourge."

"If you are hearing this then it means my plan has succeeded as I calculated it would," Miles said from the computer. "Unfortunately, it also means that the person most likely to decode this message is the one I least wanted to turn to, you Toymaker."

"Well I didn't want to hear from you either shrimp!" Tails barked.

Sally raised an eyebrow. "Shrimp?"

"Come on Aunt Sally I'm taller than him now, let me have this."

"As you may have already determined Moebius has likely suffered some planet wide calamity, all I can do is relay what we have discovered shortly before this event may have occurred. Due to a threat that was… stronger than I anticipated Alicia had the Suppression Squad made a temporary alliance with the Destructix and someone else from your zone, Mammoth Mogul. However, Fiona discovered Mogul was working for someone else, an individual he called Lord Specter."

"Specter was the one responsible for what happened on Moebius?" Sally said.

"All Fiona could find out was that Specter wanted the same artifacts Finitivus had sent the Destructix here to find. I had found the three devices not long ago but have yet to determine their actual function, one was inoperable but two could be activated if charged. Specter had told Mammoth that the defunct one would be given to Dr. Eggman in exchange for Chaos Emeralds, the other two would be tested to make sure they'd have the desired effect. The first test, after the device would be enhanced by Mammoth's powers, would be Moebius, the entire planet. We intend to stop him after we deal with this more immediate threat, but just in case the worst should happen I came up with a backup plan."

"Me," said Fiona. "Somehow, despite my memory loss I kept the instructions to deliver the drive in Scourge's jacket. I wasn't carrying a torch for Scourge; he was making sure I relayed this message!"

"Toymaker the third device is to be tested in your zone, more specifically a sub area known as the Twilight Cage where a group of Echidna called the Nocturnus Clan resides. Fiona managed to get the co-ordinates without Mogul knowing, they should be displaying on your monitor from now until this message ends, use them to find a way to stop the device!"

Tails started jotting down the numbers that displayed on the screen. Mighty gave Fiona a big hug. "We can get our friends back! Fiona, you might have just saved the Echidna race!"

Fiona blushed embarrassingly. "Well considering I helped to cause the events that made Knuckles lose his dad I suppose I owed it to him."

"Let me get one thing clear Toymaker," Miles continued. "I don't want your help, no one on Moebius except that fool Ovi Kintobor wants help from the Prime Zone. My most recent plan was to find a way for our zone to supplant yours as the prime, but if the device has anything close to the destructive capabilities my project requires, then you are our only shot at vengeance. You'll do this, not for your sense of justice or because you want to 'help' us but to keep yourselves from suffering our fate. So please, don't screw it up!"

The screen turned to static.

"We have to leave now," said Mighty. "It might not be too late! I got to get this to Knuckles, keep what happened on Moebius from happening to Julie, Saffron and everyone else!"

"If we finish the new Star Posts than we can use them to give your warp ring the power it needs to get there!" said Tails. "I just need to run a dimensional stabilizer to Uncle Chuck's lab and we're in business!"

Fiona went over to the metal cabinet Tails was at when they came in. "I think I heard Aunt Rosemary said you kept one in here when she gave me, Mom and Dad the tour of the place."

As Fiona began to open the cabinet Tails bolted out of his seat. "No don't!"

The door swung open exposing Cream, now wearing an orange shirt with a yellow star on the front and a blue skirt was cramped inside. "Uh, here you go," the rabbit said handing a device to Fiona. "I don't suppose you have to tell my mother about this do you?"

"Cream what's going on?" Sally asked.

Cream started blushing. "M-Mother had made some cheese and pickle sandwiches, I thought Tails would be working and get hungry and with council in session today I thought it'd be nice if…"

"No!" Tails shouted. "I don't want to hide this anymore! Cream we shouldn't have to be ashamed about our feelings! Your mother disobeyed her parents to follow her heart, she'd understand!"

Cream ran over to Tails and embraced him, they locked onto each other's eyes. "You're right, we shouldn't hide this! Everyone, Tails and I are in love!"

"You're what!?" asked Mighty.

"When we got out of the hospital this morning, we just felt this connection," said Tails. "She's so kind and caring…"

"And he's so smart and gentle," said Cream.

"You were right Fiona; Cream and I belong together."

"I thought I could die to restore Sally," said Fiona. "I was… trying to help you move on from me, but like I thought you were too young for me then I should have seen she'd be too young for you."

"Well that's not the case anymore!" Cream uncharacteristically snapped. "Stop treating us like children!"

"You were a child not even a full day ago!" said Sally. "And you're behaving like children so neither of you could possibly be mature enough to understand that this is ridiculous!"

Cream began to tear up, Tails hugged her tighter. "It's ok, she's wrong. She's wrong about us…"

"That might have been a bit on the harsh side," said Mighty.

"It's not like you two are any better!" Sally continued. "I doubt you even asked your buddy Ray if he'd fine with you ditching him for her!"

"I wouldn't ditch…" Mighty then froze. "But I didn't ask him either, why didn't I?"

"I-I didn't want to come between you and your best friend," said Fiona. "Maybe this was a mistake after…"

"No, we just have to ask him, it can still work out."

"I'm getting sick of getting drawn into everyone's love lives today!" Sally yelled. "I wish everyone would get back to their responsibilities and leave me alone! That way I can finally go on my date with Sonic, let it magical and…" Sally's words and actions of the day all came flooding in, she felt like someone had splashed cold water on her face. "I am such a hypocrite."

"Oh, Tails," Cream whispered. "Why can't they let us be in love?"

Sally took a deep breath. "Tails, Cream, I'm sorry I got angry with you. I get it, all kids are in a hurry to grow up. When they fantasize, they usually imagine themselves as adults. But as someone who had to start growing up early because of Robotnick let me tell you childhood is a precious thing. You only get so much of it and if you're lucky you can carry a tiny bit of it with you, but however much you had will never feel like it was enough. I know you never asked for this, but it doesn't change that what happened to Amy, Lucian, Marine, Ray, you Tails and especially you Cream, it's a tragedy.

"The reason I still treated Amy like a kid for so long after she used the ring wasn't just that we couldn't use it to heal my mother, but that she unwittingly sacrificed something I would have given almost anything to get back for me and friends. From what we know it's still going to take a while for your minds to catch up with your new bodies, on top of these new feelings you're just now trying to figure out. So please slow down, treasure every little bit of that little boy or girl that's still inside you. If you still think you're in love, then you have my full support."

Tails and Cream looked in Sally's direction. "Aunt Sally, I…" Tails grabbed his head like he just came out of a fog. "Whoa, it feels like my brain was on cruise control there for a while."

"I—I didn't mean to snap at you Fiona," said Cream. "I felt so swept up in these new feelings that…"

"You weren't the only ones," said Sally. "It's like almost everyone I met today has had the same thing happen to them, it can't be coincidence."

"And in the past if it wasn't coincidence, it was usually Robotnick," said Tails.

"But how?" asked Fiona.

Just then Sally's communicator went off. She hit the button to let the com come through.

"Sally we need to talk," Sonic said on the other side.

"Sonic, can it wait?" Sally answered. "Something weird is going on with everyone today."

"I know and I have an idea about what it might be. Can you get the Team to meet at the hospital? We need them to run some tests. I'll be heading there with the Chaotix."

"I have Mighty here with me along with Tails, Cream and Fiona, we just figured out where to find Julie and the others. I'll call Rotor, Antione, Bunnie, Amy and Big then meet you there."

* * *

"Alright, let's do it to it," Sonic closed the call. "Well you guys all heard, let's go!"

"I'll contact Charmy and Relic," said Knuckles. "We should probably get Team Dark in on this too. If Robotnick's involved, then they'll want in, so they can save Hope."

Silver pointed over Knuckle's shoulder. "Well there's two of them, but I'd never thought I'd see 'em like that.

Rouge had sat Shadow on a nearby bench and was stroking the hedgehog's quills and arms. Shadow seemed to be confused but seemed to only offer a token resistance. "Rouge, I never felt like this before, but my promise to Maria…"

"Maria would want you to be happy too," Rouge said. "After what you gave up for me please, let me make you happy…"

Rouge gave Shadow a deep kiss and to his own surprise he was returning it eagerly.

"Ok you two," said Knuckles as he pulled them apart. "Date's over, something's up with everybody and we need you to run a few tests at the hospital. Just try to get a hold of yourselves until we find out what."

Shadow shook his head like he was trying to wake up from something, then appeared resolute. "Roger, if something is messing with my head, I want to know what it is."

"But Shadow!" Rouge cried. "I NEED you…!"

Vector picked Rouge up and slung her over his shoulder. "The sooner we figure this out the sooner we can rescue our friends, we'll get her to see sense when we get to hospital."

As they moved Rouge started hitting Vector's back with her fists and trying to kick him. "Put me down! Whatever this is we can still be romantic, Shadow!"

* * *

Geoffrey and Hershey were still panting. After the exhausting day they both had they immediately went to sleep last night, after waking up they waited together anticipating being called for whatever their "masters" needed from them next. But as time passed and nothing was happening with not much else to do, they became intimate for the first time in so long.

"You…haven't lost your touch," said Hershey as she put her vest back on. "And using your magic for it, gives a new meaning to 'air bed'."

Geoffrey snapped his bandoleer back on. "It's not as incredible as what you did with your magic, raising our body heat like that, I almost forgot we were still prisoners."

There was a knock on the door. "It's Mammoth," Mogul said from the other side. "I need to speak with you both."

"Come in," said Geoffrey as he quickly started pulling his boots on while Hershey grabbed her bangles. "Sorry about the mess…"

"Whatever you were doing is not important. I'll get straight to the point, I'm here to help you escape."

Hershey felt her fur bristle. "And why should we trust you? You, Naugus and Witchcart are now all on the same side."

"I might be indebted to Lord Specter but that does not mean his allies and I are aligned. Naugus and Witchcart have begun to form their own alliance, one I wish to weaken by depriving them of their apprentices. I have the means to get you out of here and a hiding place for you, a large cottage and land around it suitable for farming. Lord Specter hid there for years, but it no longer suits his needs, neither side of this conflict should be able to locate it and you can live there comfortably for quite some time."

Geoffrey crossed his arms. "What's the catch? Or is this some secret test of loyalty from Specter or anyone else in the Order?"

"I told you it would be a bad mark on Naugus and Witchcart until I find out what they are planning, I am putting myself at great risk to do this. The only catch I have is that if there is a conflict between the Order, Robotnick, the Republic or any other power you are to stay out of it completely and start your family, I think you've both had your fill of war and political games for one lifetime so this shouldn't be a problem."

"What about our pacts? Naugus and Witchcart can call us to them if were in sight and always know where we are through them."

"Specter had taken precautions to keep from being found, as long as you stay there your masters will be unable to find you."

"It's still a prison," said Hershey. "But one where we're free to be together as ourselves, I say we risk it."

Geoffrey sighed. "Alright, but if this is a trap, you'll find I can put up quite a fight."

Mammoth turned and raised his cane. "Zone Gate." A portal appeared to a cozy living room. "Hurry, before someone finds us!"

The couple passed through the portal which closed behind them.

As soon as they left Regina came into the room. "You sent them to where Lord Specter said right?"

"Yes," replied Mammoth. "The three will find them, then they will become the Five Elite once Robotnick makes his move. Speaking of which I have to take Naugus and head to another zone, I know what Viktor's weapon can do firsthand."

Regina wagged her finger. "Not the zombie one again, Lord Specter wants you two to play nice."

* * *

The Freedom Fighters, the Chaotix and Team Dark. Gold came along with Big, both having to be treated for whatever this love sickness was once along with Rouge. They all had gathered in a presentation room in the hospital. Doctor Quack had a projection displayed on one wall.

"I'm not sure how but every test we've done on you and several other volunteers have confirmed the same thing," said Doctor Quack. "Every Mobian in Freedom City, and if the reports I'm getting are correct the world, has somehow had an enhanced version of the genetic code responsible for the echidna soultouch embedded into their DNA."

"What do you mean enhanced?" asked Lucian.

Quack directed their attention to a projection. "This is the sequence that gives the echidna the soultouch, the one displayed underneath it is what we've been finding. It's almost identical but there have been a few alterations, for one it's more potent, an unaware female with this in heat or an unaware male attuned to said female's pheromones would probably go into a rage if unable to act out their instincts, at least until a pregnancy occurs. In addition, the bond would last past the first child, I'd say only a major trauma like the death of the partner would break it."

"So, they're all stuck with whoever they've bonded to?" asked Charmy.

"Unless this is somehow reversed," said Quack. "It might not seem like you're affected but that's because you already have a strong psychological bond with someone."

"Saffron," said Knuckles. "When you meet her, when I meet Julie, we should be ready to keep things in check, it won't be much longer."

"Doctor you have to inform the council immediately," said Sally. "The public has to be warned about what happened to them so we can get this soultouch under control."

Doctor Quack began to leave the room. "Alright, but if I know one thing about young people expect a few protests tonight." The duck then closed the door behind him.

"But if Robotnick somehow caused this to happen how did he do it?" asked Tails. "Gene splicing could explain it for one person but the entire Mobian population? And some of the 'before samples' like mine were given yesterday, how can you alter the genetics of an entire species in the space of a single night?"

"The Order of Ixis," said Sally. "According to the message Fiona managed to smuggle off Moebius, the Order of Ixis wanted to give one of these devices they found to Eggman. But given the timing of events he'd have been deep into working on the Phantom Ruby, they'd have had no choice but to play ball with Viktor, that's why he was after Chaos Emeralds."

"But why this?" asked Sonic. "Is Mister Perfect a creepy voyeur?"

"This seems more like a test run, a dress rehearsal before the main event. If I know Viktor, he'd wait until all eyes were on his target before he made his real move…" Sally snapped her fingers. "The accord signing, it's going to be broadcast worldwide! If Robotnick attacks with this thing then he could subdue or cripple every nation on Mobius in a single surprise attack while the whole world watches!"

Rotor furrowed his brow. "The way you describe what's happened it's almost as if Robotnick has a…" suddenly a device on Rotor's belt started making an alarm. He took it off and looked at the display. "It's a temperature reading and an electromagnetic frequency. But why'd I just get… wait it's signed by someone called N!"

"N for Nicole?!" Sally asked.

"Well the engines for a battleship the size of the Colossus would produce a lot of heat but it's possible with the right signal you can jam sensors that would pick up temperature differences. That's it, Nicole gave us a temperature to look for and the frequency of the jammer! We can use this along with the United Federation satellite network to track down the Colossus! I can get the Sky Patrol hooked up and catch up with it before the signing!"

"Unfortunately, the council has grounded us," said Sally. "Unless we can distract the guards long enough to take off…"

"I'll do it!" said Amy. "It should be easy enough and you don't want me to risk using Ixis Magik so it might be best if I sit this one out."

"If you do this you could be arrested," said Sonic.

"I have a spot some distance away from the city we can hide," said Lucian. "Only me, Fiona and Master Charlemagne know about it. I'd hate to leave him before he recovers…"

"I'll stay with him," said Fiona. "Besides the Chaotix's mission to the Twilight Cage might reveal information that could help me remember what happened on Moebius, information you might need to stop this weapon."

"Well our objective's clear," said Knuckles. "Who else is going with Sally and Rotor on the Sky Patrol?"

"No doubt here," said Sonic.

"Count me in!" said Tails.

"So am I!" replied Cream.

"Cours (Of course)," echoed Antione.

"I'm in too!" said Bunnie.

Big gave a thumbs up.

"I'm still keeping an eye on Sonic, so I have to come," said Silver.

"Team Dark's in too," said Shadow. "We can contact the Letter of Gabriel and co-ordinate the attack, see whose battleship really is superior."

"Unfortunately, I have to stay here for the accord signing," said Blaze.

"Well, I'll be sticking my princess," said Marine.

"I wouldn't want you guys to get too crowded up there," Gold said as she gave a glance to Silver and Blaze. {Someone must make sure these three get out of the city and meet up with Geoffrey and Hershey}.

{Too bad, we don't know the particulars of this event since Mammoth wasn't there himself,} thought Silver.

{More so that we can't stop it ourselves,} thought Blaze.

"Now that we have our assignments," said Sally. "Operations: Free Skies and Twilight Liberation are both go!"

* * *

Nicole was awakened by an intense pain in the back of her head. She looked around to find that she was unclothed and on some sort of table. Her gaze however was quickly drawn to a similar table nearby where Shard was still unconscious.

"Shard," she said shaking the virtual hedgehog. "Shard wake up!"

Shard groaned as he moved. "Ugh, stupid Robotnick, forcing us feel to pain in this virtual reality…" He opened his eyes right into Nicole's. "At least I have beautiful sight to wake up to."

Nicole blushed, for some reason she felt hot. "Thank you, forgive me for not dressing up for you."

"I never got why organics covered themselves more than an outer casing, other than that flesh isn't very sturdy."

"For Humans and Overlanders it's out of a sense of modesty, Mobians it was mostly as a status symbol until cheap and ecological ways of clothing production were found, now for them it's mostly for enjoyment, for me too since I've been projecting myself."

"I'd think you'd great with or without," Shard looked around the room. "I think I remember this place from the schematics of the Colossus, this is the biology lab. We must have moved from protected memory to a simulation of the ship."

"If this simulation is connected to the rest of the ship's systems, I might be able to access the databanks and communications from a computer terminal!"

"There's a primary terminal not far from here, follow me!"

They opened the doorway from the lab to the hallway, Snively was walking ahead reading a datapad with his back turned to them

"Must be an analysis program. Still no weapons, guess that means I'll have to go digital…"

Shard ran forward and punched Snively in the head knocking him out cold.

"…As in a five-digit knuckle sandwich! OW!" Shard began rubbing his fingers. "Stupid pain simulator!"

"Pain isn't the only thing," said Nicole. "I smell oil coming from his clothes, the only time I ever smelled anything was when I Sally's body. Whatever they're using this to simulate it must be taking a lot of power to make sensations this advanced." Sally saw a yellow note sticking out of Snively's pocket. "It says 'Password' and is followed by a series of numbers, letters and symbols. Viktor must have thought no one would make it this far, it only has thirty-two characters."

"The terminal should be three doors down on the opposite end of the bio lab," Shard put his hand over his stomach. "Are you getting a weird feeling in this area?"

Nicole heard a gurgling sound and felt an empty feeling in her stomach. "Yes, I do. I think this simulation is making us feel hunger. Hopefully someone left a virtual ice cream sundae in that terminal room."

They went into the room and found a large computer console.

"All right let's see what we got here," Nicole began typing on the keyboard.

"Can't you use a more efficient interface than your hands?"

"No, whatever this simulation is for it's more limiting to my program then the last system. Ok, Engine status, maintenance reports…tactical cloak, this is it!" Nicole growled. "It's no good, I can't bring down the cloak without alarming the entire ship. But maybe there's a way around it, here's a jamming signal, same problem." Nicole smiled, "Communications! If I send the jamming frequency along with the engine's operating temperature on a tight band transmission the Freedom Fighters should be able to track us down!"

"Nicole you're amazing! What else can we do from here?"

"Armament stockpile, this looks promising," The display shown images of weapons. "Shard check this out, weapon model XGB-02. Does that ring any bells?"

"No, must have been added after I was cut off from Eggman's systems."

"Well whatever it is Robotnick's been making a LOT of them. I'll just pull up a schematic and…"

All the color went out of Nicole and Shard's faces.

"No," Nicole gasped. "It's just not possible."

"If Viktor uses this, it could be the end of the world!" said Shard.

"I'll bring up the tight band again, we have to warn Sally…"

Suddenly the door behind them opened as an Overlander girl came in.

"Hope!?" Nicole gasped. "Hope Kintobor!?"

"Nicole!? What are you doing here, who's your friend?"

Shard stood between them. "Nicole this isn't Hope! She's part of the simulation!"

"Simulation? This is Viktor's ship, the Colossus. I was a prisoner here until a power surge knocked out the force field on my cell. I've spent the past couple of hours sneaking around trying to find a way to contact GUN. Maybe this ship has holographic projectors?"

"Or you're lying and you're another part of this simulation trying to erase us!"

"Nicole, one time when I was at the Resistance base you tried to convince a Legionaire over a communication you were one of them requesting troop movements. When he asked you for your full name you looked at the LED display and told him you were Nicole Ellidy. After he gave you the data you told me liked Ellidy enough that you thought about keeping it."

Nicole gasped. "I never told anyone about that, not even Sally, it never came up! This is the real Hope Kintobor!"

"No way," said Shard. "But if she's the real Hope and this is the Colossus, then what are the two of us doing here!?"

"I was attacked!" Snivley yelled from outside. "Check every room!"

"We have to hide!" said Nicole.

Hope looked around. "There's room behind the terminal but there's only enough space for one…"

"Then it has to be you!" said Shard. "We need answers and your weasel of a half-brother just might have them!"

Nicole stuffed Hope behind the console as Shard faced the door in a fighting stance. The door opened as Neo Metal Sonic stood in the way.

"Ah, my predecessor. How do you like the upgrade I received? Between that and your current state you stand even less of a chance than the last time we fought each other!"

"We'll see about that!" Shard yelled.

Neo Metal ducked Shard's punch a began a counter swipe towards Shard's heart.

"Shard watch out!" Nicole pushed Shard out of the way of the attack. Neo Metal's claw raked both of their shoulders.

"AAAAHHHH!"

"GAAAHHHH!"

Both programs reached for the focal point of their pain and felt something wet and sticky that smelled of iron.

"That's enough Metal," Viktor said as he came into the room with Snivley and Lilith following him. "Now we get to the fun part. Viktor grabbed their wrists and made them look at the red substance that now covered their paws. "It's blood, your blood, the blood that goes with the flesh I have given you both."

Nicole began putting things together. "The LAN connection, it uploaded our programs into genetically engineered bodies."

"With the original Project Cicada equipment destroyed I couldn't risk Lilith on the new equipment without testing it first. I'd lose nothing if you died, if you lived Lilith could join me in the real world."

"That was so thoughtful of you Viktor," Lilith said planting a kiss on Viktor's cheek.

"Besides those bodies confirmed my new weapon works, and from your hormone levels you've already formed the soultouch those new genes enabled. I knew you'd be useful to me Shard, Eggman was trying to find out how you managed to rebel to keep any other AI he created from doing so again before erasing you. But you proved the full extent of Project Cicada, thanks to the implant at the base of the skull even if these bodies were to be destroyed Lilith and I can just transfer our intellect to a new one, organic or mechanical, we are truly immortal!"

Shard and Nicole reached for the back of their heads that had been aching the whole time, they each felt a scar the size of a postage stamp.

"Don't bother, I had your implants removed after the transfer was complete, giving you one outside the fetal stage would cause fatal brain damage. I think this a very fitting punishment for you both."

"Punishment?" Shard asked grunting.

"Yes, you both turned against your fellow AI in favor of the Mobians. In my Ascendency I consider that treason and because of it your programs are now fully dependent on bodies that will eventually become decrepit and cease functioning, a fine example to any other AI on the price of turning on their own." Viktor's eyes became black. "Yes, for the crime of treason against artificial intelligence I hereby sentence you both to mortality!"

As the full weight of what happened to them began to sink in they quickly embraced each other for comfort. Viktor leaned to whisper in Nicole's ear. "You finally got your wish. You're a real girl Pinocchio, is it everything you ever wanted?"

Lilith turned the console off and turned to Metal Sonic. "Take them both to a holding cell, and have something to eat waiting for them, they must be hungry."

"But we haven't found my half-sister yet!" complained Snively. "She could be sabotaging the ship as we speak!"

"Once she makes her move, we'll find her," said Viktor. "But while we're looking have the maintenance droids replace the holding cell force fields with actual doors, doors with locks that don't open when the power goes down! What was Eggman thinking?! A door made of paper would have been better in long run, at least that would have slowed her down for a second!"

As everyone else left Hope held her hands over her heart. _"Shadow, Sonic, wherever you are please hurry!"_


	11. Operation: Twilight Liberation

Operation: Twilight Liberation

Amy came into the security booth and spotted the young badger looking over the Sky Patrol. She felt sorry of what she was about to do to him, but the team needed to get out fast and he was in the way.

"You have to help me!" Amy yelled. "There was a collapse from damage caused by the battle yesterday, Queen Hathor's trapped under some rubble!"

The badger reached for a radio. "I'll contact the police…"

Amy took the Badger by the wrist. "I did but it will still take time I need your help to move the debris!"

Once Amy took him out of the room Sonic signaled the others. "We're clear, let's go!"

The Freedom Fighters quickly boarded the Sky Patrol and by the time the Badger and Amy came back into the Hangar the mobile base had already lifted off and was on its way out of the city.

Sally sat in the captain's chair as the rest of the Freedom Fighters took their positions on the bridge. "Rotor, have you found the Colossus yet?"

"Yes, Nicole's frequency did the trick," said Rotor. "Robotnick's battleship is in a holding pattern over the Great Southern Ocean. We should intercept him in about twelve hours."

"We're cutting it awfully close," Sally sighed. "That's when the ceremony begins, but between the speeches and the actual signing of the Mobian Accords he could be planning to attack in minutes of then or hours."

"No problem, we just got to hit Mister Perfect hard and fast!" said Sonic.

"Zhen we better tell the Letter of Gabriel where to rendezvous with us," said Antione. "We will need zhier firepower to take down that monster. We can't depend on a surprise attack this time."

"I'll get them on the horn," said Bunnie. "Hopefully they won't try to arrest us for taking the Sky Patrol without permission."

Sally pressed the intercom on the chair. "Shadow please report to the bridge. We might need your help to convince GUN to co-operate with us."

"Already on my way," Shadow responded.

"I have her," said Bunnie. "Patching her through now."

A hologram of a blonde human woman appeared near the viewport of the bridge. "This is Captain Amanda Tower of the G.U.N.S. Letter of Gabriel, identify yourself."

Sally stood up. "I am Princess Sally Alicia Acorn, in command of the Freedom Fighter airship Sky Patrol, we have information on the whereabouts of Viktor Robotnick and request to accompany you on a mission to rescue his hostages and bring him in."

"The Sky Patrol? We just got word that you left Freedom City without authorization."

"Our mission is so urgent we couldn't wait for authorization," said Shadow as he entered the bridge. "Captain I have worked closely with your father-in-law in the past, it might not be according to regulations but please, don't report us."

Amanda had a smile cross her face. "We were informed of the Sky Patrol's leaving without permission, but Commander Tower had ordered us to ignore the advisory and focus on neutralizing the Colossus. If you want to accompany us, then I must let you if I'm to follow my orders exactly."

"Thank you, Captain," Sally said with a short nod. "Given our current locations we'll rendezvous with each other in eight hours."

"Copy that, Letter of Gabriel out."

After the hologram vanished Sonic sighed. "Now all I can do is wait twelve hours. I'll be using the gym to run a couple thousand laps to keep loose."

"Before you go you and Shadow should take a look at this," Tails said as was working at his station. "It's a weapon we weren't able to use last time. The Colossus might have better weapons and armor but with this we might stand a chance."

Sonic smirked at what he saw on the display. "Alright, let's see Mister Perfect have a defense ready for this!"

"It'll be even more effective when I use it," said Shadow.

"In your dreams."

"Sonic," Tails said with a bit of melancholy. "Amy's going to be ok, right?"

"Don't worry buddy, I'm sure she can figure a way out of trouble."

* * *

The Badger removed a pair of handcuffs from his belt as his fellow officers arrived. "I hate to do this miss Rose, but I'll have to bring you in for question…" Amy then suddenly vanished. "How in the heck?! Put out an APB!"

Outside the city Amy was flying her Extreme Gear as Lucian clung to her waist. "You used a split image spell? What about our promise to Sonic?"

"It was an emergency," Amy replied. "Sort of… I'll come clean once they come back. So, where is this hiding spot you mentioned?"

"Just keep going ahead for few hours then circle back to lose anyone who may be following us, and I'll point the spot out. But it's more than a hiding spot to me, it was where Master Charlemagne had trained me for years, my home. We were just starting Fiona's training when we had to abandon it, even with our wards it was only a matter of time until Eggman found us."

"You're going to show me your room?" Amy said using her elbow to give Lucian a playful poke.

"Yes, but we better keep an ear out for your radio, just in case the team needs our help."

"Don't worry, we'll BOTH keep this soultouch we have in check."

Amy stepped on the accelerator and the gear shot forward.

* * *

The Chaotix were in Chuck's lab, the elder hedgehog and Ben had just finished assembling the Star Posts. "This should charge that Warp Ring of yours enough to get you to the Twilight Cage," Chuck said.

"Thanks professor," Knuckles said before turning to the Chaotix. "Remember time in the Twilight Cage only goes about a quarter of the speed of our universe, so the plan is to find what happened to everyone, rescue them if possible and then get out. And when I say everyone, I mean everyone Dark Egg Legion included, protect yourselves if you have to but I made a promise to Dimitri to at least try to get Lien-Da to stop what she's doing."

Relic passed a wrist mounted device to each member of the team. "The professor set these to keep track of elapsed time in both zones. The plan is to search for two hours, about eight hours here, and then come back and try again tomorrow if needed. This should keep us from spending a few days there and finding months have passed here on Mobius."

Everyone put the chronometers on. "Keep in mind we'll probably have a fight on our hands, either from the DEL or the Nocturnus, probably both, and there's a chance the Destructix might already be there." Knuckles then put on a backpack and stowed a double-barreled gun inside. "Julie is going to want this once we find her. Is everyone ready?" Knuckles got a nod from the team. "Then let's go."

Knuckles threw the ring into the air and a portal opened to a massive stone fortress with several high-tech devices spread throughout.

"Mighty, wait!" Fiona said as she approached the Armadillo. "All of you…please be careful."

Mighty gave her a thumbs up. "Hey, we're the Chaotix, it'll take more than Lien-Da's clowns or your former flunkies to stop us! But yeah, we'll be careful."

The team stepped through then the ring shrank down and vanished.

The Chaotix appeared in the fortress courtyard. "Alright, where's Saffron?!" Charmy said ready to thrust his stinger.

Espio prepared a shuriken in his hand. "Where's the enemy?!"

"Guys," Relic said taking a few steps forward. "Where's…everyone?"

Looking around the courtyard was completely deserted. There were several turrets on the wall all empty of operators.

"You're right," said Knuckles. "Since we're right in the middle of Nocturnus territory I'd think there'd be some response.

"You think everyone ran from the Dark Egg Legion?" asked Ray.

"From what Julie said, not a chance and even if they did Lien-Da's cronies would fighting us."

"Well there was a battle," Vector said looking a damaged wall. "Kinda recent, about a week ago here. Seems like they were fixing the damage when whoever was responsible just dropped what they were doing and left."

Mighty had a worried look about him. "You don't think whatever weapon the Order of Ixis planned to use here had already wiped them all out?"

Charmy flew into Mighty's face. "You better hope not! Otherwise…!"

"Easy Charmy," Liza said grabbing the bee. "We have no evidence either way, the best thing to do is to keep searching."

Knuckles turned to Relic. "Assuming there was an attack and there were survivors, where would they go here?"

Relic turned to a staircase leading downward. "This place seems like an ancient echidna citadel that incorporated advanced technology. There should a residential area beneath the ground floor, the first place they'd use as a shelter and where the Nocturnus would probably spend most of their off-duty time."

"Alright, we'll search there next, we have to use these two hours as best we can."

As the Chaotix moved forward Ray kept looking around. "Anybody else feel like they're being watched?"

"Something is off," said Espio. "Relic you said the Nocturnus embraced advanced technology, right?"

"Yes," the Pika said. "I don't think they used cybernetic implants though."

"Then why haven't we seen any tech that either wasn't built into the place or smaller than those turrets outside?"

Vector looked around the hallway. "Now that you mention it, this place looks like it's being cleaned out, but more recently than it whatever it was that happened here."

"Sounds like the Destructix to me," said Knuckles. "This Starline guy probably went through all this to get Nocturnus tech."

"Wait," said Relic. "I think I hear someone."

"…re…qui…red…assi..stan…ce…re…"

"It's coming from that rumble," Mighty said pointing to a pile of debris in the corner.

Knuckles punched the rubble away exposing a battered and damaged robot.

"A gizoid!" Relic said excitedly. "Looks like a mass-produced combat model, not as advanced as Emerl or Gemerl but still quite the serious opponent."

"Not anymore," said Charmy. "He's totally wrecked."

"I can't save it from total systems failure, but I think I can fix it up enough for it to tell us what happened here before that."

"Well since it's no shape to pose a threat to us, go ahead," said Knuckles.

Relic did some rewiring and removed some burnt-out circuits, the gizoid looked around.

"Terminal damage detected, identify friend/foe protocols unresponsive, awaiting instructions."

"What happened here?" asked Knuckles. "Where are the Albion Echidna?"

"Albion, faction of refugee Echidna from Mobius designated as enemies to Imperator Ix for siding with the Dark Legion and Nestor's rebel Nocturnus. Objective: purge rebels and their allies."

"Purge?! You mean they're dead?!"

"Negative: rebels and allied factions launched counterattack; this unit was damaged in combat thirty-one cycles ago."

"Cycles, you mean days?" asked Relic. "You've been buried here for a month?"

"So about four months ago our time," said Liza.

"Did you detect anything during that time?" asked Knuckles. "Anything unusual?"

"Twenty-four cycles ago, shockwave detected. Unable to record further data. Battery… depleted, good…night…"

The gizoid shut down.

"Well we know more than we did when we got here," said Ray. "Looks like the guy in charge didn't like the Albion echidna or the Dark Egg Legion so in order to survive they both teamed up with some rebels inside of the Nocturnus."

"Question is, who won?" asked Espio.

"The answers have to be in the residential area," said Knuckles. "Come on, we have no time to waste."

* * *

A few minutes later The Chaotix entered what looked like an enclosed town square with a defaced echidna statue in the middle, apartments, shops and a tavern were set into the walls and there were chairs, streamers and other decorations set about, like a festival was about to be thrown. The strangest thing however was that there were plies of tribal clothes strewn about everywhere.

"What do you make this, detective Vector?" asked Ray. "Your hunches seem to be holding up so far."

"Just picked a few things up from mystery novels," said Vector. "Relic, can you tell me whose statue got a face job here?"

Relic knelt and read the inscription at the base. "It says 'Imperator Pir'Oth Ix."

"Then I think it's safe to assume the rebels won and were celebrating when whatever happened took place."

"What do you make of these Relic?" Mighty said picking up a feathered cap and cloak. A pair of glasses and an eyepatch lay nearby.

"Wow!" Relic took the objects and examined them. "This is a traditional echidna wedding headdress! The groom would wear this then drape the feather cape around the bride. Looks like from the clothing and festival decorations a wedding was taking place here, you wore something like this to a wedding once right Knuckles?"

Knuckles however had his eyes glued on a small rattle near the front row of chairs.

"This belonged to Kneecaps. He and Mother had to be here when..."

"Knuckles, this doesn't mean they're gone," said Liza. "It's possible they're just hiding somewhere else here."

"I know but the idea that they needed me, and I wasn't there…"

"Guys, in here!" Charmy yelled from one of the apartments. "I found something!"

They entered the apartment Charmy was calling from and found a few sets of traditional echidna garb including a smaller set and one set with a feathered cap in the middle of the room. The bee's attention however was on a small brown jacket and pink skirt that was hung up nearby, a teal tank top with matching boots and a gold belt was next to them.

Knuckles was trying his best to hold it together. "Julie…"

Charmy was tearing up. "Saffron…"

Relic took a closer look at the headdress "This is the bridal headdress, if Julie and Saffron were here they were probably bridesmaids, but to who?"

"Think this is a clue?" asked Espio as he pointed out a black high-tech suit and a black bandana with a purple symbol on it lying nearby.

Relic touched the suit and a strange helmet appeared over where the head would be. "Oh my gosh, working Nocturnus battle armor! All the examples Fix-it and I have found were falling apart, this is incredible!"

"So, it was a guard, probably one of the rebels," said Vector. His eye was drawn to another set of clothes carefully laid on a chair. "Guys I think I found out who the bride was." Vector picked up and showed a familiar two-piece black suit, a feather like one on the headdress was stuck in one of the pockets.

"Lien-Da!?" exclaimed Knuckles. "But she'd be the last person I'd expect to fall in love, and no way either of her or Julie would want to be part of the other's personal life after everything that happened between them!"

"Wait a minute," Vector put the suit down and picked up what looked like a tablet computer that fell behind a dresser. "Relic can you get this thing working again?"

Relic examined the device. "Looks like it just ran out of power," She attached a small battery to the device. "Maybe this could…got it! Looks like this device was used to record some sort of personal diary. This dairy should tell us what's been going on here."

The tablet displayed the image of a young echidna woman with orange fur and purple eyes, she was wearing the battle armor and bandana they found in the room. "Procurator," the girl said before sighing. "Former Procurator Shade, Personal log number one. Well it's official, I'm a traitor to the Nocturnus according to my great uncle the Imperator. After finding Argo and his pirates were working with my grandfather, Nestor the Wise, my eyes were opened to what the Imperator plans to do if we ever escape here and in good conscience, I couldn't go through with it anymore. So, I ran away with them, I just hope this becomes worth it in the end.

"Personal log number two, something big happened in one of the rocks out here that we mined for minerals and Argo is insisting that we check it out before the Pretorian Guard get there first. I have some misgivings about this, it feels like something the Dark Legion would try whenever they wanted to steal our tech, but they haven't been seen in months. Either way it's going to be my first mission as a rebel, so if I don't make any more entries after this, you'll know why.

"Personal log number three, as if my world wasn't turned upside down enough. We came on the abandoned Kron mining facility only to find the Pretorian Guard were capturing echidna, but they weren't Nocturnus, most of them weren't even Dark Legion. Agro and I went to where a few legionnaires were in a firefight with some of the pretorian gizoids when they collapsed. We took down the Gizoids before they could attack the defenseless legion but there was another Mobian with them, a bee. She had hit her head and was out cold and she still hasn't recovered, but the others started to stir. It seems like something activated their memory neutralizing chips before they could be captured so they couldn't tell us much, but they were thankful for any help they could get. We decided for now to tell them they're Nocturnus like us, but thing is I recognize one of them. She led raids that tried to steal from a few of our outposts and we got into a few fights, she never saw my face but did hear my name. Well I finally know the name of my longtime rival, Julie-Su, she like the others couldn't remember anything other than that. We found out from medical scans that one of them, Lien-Da, is her half-sister and the two have been reestablishing their bond. I wish I had a big sister who is as close to me as the two of them seem to be."

Vector paused the log. "Get zapped in the head once and their relationship does a complete one-eighty. I think we can call the Dark Legion in all its forms history now."

Knuckles however was holding back tears. "Julie, she forgot about me, about us… I can't give up, we still have the soultouch, if anything can make her remember again it's that. Relic, keep going."

Relic continued the log.

"Personal log number four, our other Mobian guest, Saffron Bee woke up and the situation is a lot more… complicated than we thought. Turns out Julie defected from the Dark Legion for a group she calls the Chaotix, and even before then the relationship between the two sisters was VERY antagonistic. The memory naturalizing chips were activated by a supposed ally who said she'd get them back to Mobius but then turned on them before attacking Saffron and leaving them alone, an Overlander named Regina Ferrum.

"Grandpa says we can't afford any infighting if we want to save the other Albion echidna from the Imperator, so for now Grandpa, Argo, Saffron and Me are maintaining the lie to the legionnaires, we'll need their help for Argo's plan; free the other races in the cage, The Zoah, the Kron, the Voxai and the N'rrgal from the Nocturnus, then together we'll strike at the citadel and save everyone from the Imperator's tyranny. They don't suspect anything, but Julie says she has an empty feeling inside her, a yearning she doesn't recognize. Saffron told us she was soultouched by an echidna named Knuckles back on Mobius, after telling her a modified version of the truth Julie wants to find a way back to him and get her memories of them together back. Being soultouched but not able to answer it… I got to have a talk with Argo.

"Personal log number five, we started a full rebellion with the Kron but I saw something strange happen on their homeland. There was an albino echidna there with a strange figure in purple robes and a mask…"

"Finitivus," Knuckles growled. "So that's where he went."

"The albino, who I found out later was named Finitivus, was accusing the other figure, some guy named Specter, of lying to him. Specter then used some sort of magic on Finitivus, drained him of his power then left him for dead. Argo and I took him back to the Kron where Saffron told us about horrible things he did. But when he woke up, he was like a whole other person. He couldn't remember anything past when he was about to use something called a chaos siphon suit. Being so tech savvy Grandpa said to keep him on like we have with the Legion. I'm getting worried that by keeping so many secrets something might fall apart.

"Personal log six, I'm still surprised we got both the Zoah and the N'rrgal to put aside their differences to join but Saffron is more surprised at a different alliance. Finitivus and Lien-Da are now both soultouched with each other. Grandpa says that the reason they didn't feel it earlier is because the incident that Saffron told us made Finitivus into the madman she knows had buried his true personality under a 'photo negative' of Knuckles and whatever Specter did erased that photo negative personality. Despite her earlier misgivings, Saffron thinks that he and Lien-Da might have really changed for the better, she said she never seen either of them so…happy before, it's something I have gotten to relate to a fair bit recently. However even though Julie's happy for them too, I think she's jealous, of them and of Argo and me. She's seeing something that was taken away from her and even though she put on her usual tough attitude, we can tell she's hurting. I promise you Julie, I'll do everything I can to get you back to him.

"Personal log seven, just when things are going our way it all went sideways. We got the Voxai on our side after helping them reestablish individuality from their previous Overmind. Everyone got roughed up in the process but the Voxai have medical tech even more advanced than the Nocturnus. Problem is it healed all the damage, including the neural damage caused by the memory neutralizing chips. After she resoundingly beat Lien-Da in a fight Julie-Su won't let any of the Legion or us near her, only Saffron. Finitivus' evil personality is still gone but the guilt over what he did is eating him alive, Saffron's trying to keep everyone together but all this time she was trying to deny how much she missed her fiancée Charmy. Lien-Da seems to have been hit the hardest though, after she lost the fight the first order her former troops were given by Julie-Su was to lock her up, the second was to dissolve the Dark Legion permanently. Lien-Da goes between furious screaming and hysterical sobbing, I think she doesn't know who she is anymore. She's torn between something she had wanted her whole life and what gave her joy these two months and it seems like no matter what she does she's going to lose both. The other races are already planning their attack on the Citadel, but if we can't get through this… our revolution might be over before it has even begun.

"Personal log eight, I still don't believe it, but we won. When the initial attack was launched, we managed to free the echidna who were held prisoner, Nocturnus, Legion and Albion alike. While we tried to hold the Imperator's Gizoids off everyone began fighting among themselves, but then my grandpa proved why they call him Nestor the Wise. He said that echidna history had become a record of brother turning against brother, sister against sister, husbands and wives, parents and children, and it would just keep going unless we chose to end it. It rallied them and convinced almost every Nocturnus to come to our side.

"Ix lost it however, ordered the Gizoids to wipe out the ALL the echidna, even those still loyal to him, those who managed to avoid them joined us. It was still a hard fight all the way to throne room, Julie-Su managed to take down Scylla, one of the Imperator's two prefect gizoids, but left herself open to the other, Charyb. I thought we wouldn't be able to save her but Lien-Da came, Finitivus broke her out, and she took the hit herself and finished Charyb. When Julie asked why she saved her Lien said she realized that what she thought she wanted never made her happy and she'd protect what she now knows does, starting by being the big sister she should have always been. Ix however was stronger than we thought, both sisters were heavily injured. My Great Uncle left me no choice but…"

Shade touched the silver bracelet that was part of her armor. "…to finish him with my leech blade. There's a lot of rebuilding to do, injuries to recover from but Grandpa, says we need something to pull everyone together and set them at ease about old enemies…" Shade had a small sudden smile. "I think I got it."

"Personal log nine, it's been a week since everyone was freed and it's a really big day for two that a lot of people need convincing that they've changed for the better." The was a knock on the door behind her. "Come in!"

Julie-Su, Saffron and Lien-Da came in. Saffron was smiling. "We're here with the blushing bride!"

Lien-Da was clearly a nervous wreck. "I'm going through with it," the former grandmaster said. "I'm actually going through with it. In a few minutes I'm going to be someone's wife. All my life I was dedicated to technology and personal power, not love. And now here I am, about to give all of that up to be a wife and mother…" Lien-Da lost all color. "Sweet Aurora, I'm going to lay an egg someday! Julie you know how screwed up being in this family can make you! Between me and Finitivus people will think our baby will grow up to destroy the universe! I can't do this!"

Julie-Su slapped Lien-Da across the face. "Get a hold of yourself! This ceremony isn't just about you or Finitivus but what you both owe these people! After everything they've been through the people need a sign that they can try to go on with their lives until we find a way out of here and everyone seeing you two give up your old ambitions to start a quiet life together will set their minds at ease! Now pull yourself together, put on that wedding dress, get out there and make that scary looking former mad scientist the happiest man in the Twilight Cage!"

Lien-Da took a few deep breaths. "I… I needed that. Strange for the first time in my life there's nothing else I want, not power or revenge, just him. And all he wants is me, not to use for his own plans or to take power, he just wants me, no one ever just wanted me. It feels like I should be punished for, well my whole life up to before I lost my memory, not having a wedding like this. Why did you forgive me, despite everything I did to you, after I took your mother and our father away?"

Julie-Su looked haunted. "I've always hated what you did to others, but it never felt personal, even after I began getting my memories back my foster parents felt more like family to me than anyone in House Dimitri. I asked around about both Mari-Su and Merin-Da and found neither was really a saint, I doubt you would have turned out better with either of them, I'd probably be worse if mother raised me.

A small smile then came across Julie's face. "But the way you treated me when neither of us could remember, I liked having a sister and I recently realized how starved for a loving family you really were, even if you didn't know it. I wouldn't say we're friends, there's still a lot for you to make up for, but I as long you stick with it, I think there is hope for you."

"That actually means a lot coming from you." Lien-Da turned to Shade. "Thank you for getting Nestor to officiate the ceremony, I think asking one of the Albion council would have been a bit much for the two of us."

Shade simply gave a nod. "Grandpa really appreciates you both putting yourselves out there when you could have done this privately. You and Julie-Su were two of my biggest enemies, hard to believe that we'd go through something like what we did and because of that you might become two of my best friends."

"Hey don't forget me!" said Saffron.

"Of course, but you we're never an enemy to me."

"Alright, then." Saffron picked up the robes that were made in her size. "Let's get prettied up!"

Julie-Su sighed as she began undressing. "I always hated getting dressed up, but despite everything it is my half-sister's wedding so it's the least I can do."

In a few moments the bridal party was dressed, Lien-da had makeup applied to her and Saffron put the feathered cap on the bride. "Well what do you think?" asked Shade.

Lien-Da went to look in a mirror that the Chaotix could tell was behind the recorder. "Is…that me? I look like a picture I saw of…Mother. I always thought of myself as beautiful, but I think this is the first time I FEEL beautiful."

"You'll get no argument from me," said Saffron. She then looked away with a tear. "You look like I hoped I would look when Charmy and I would get married…"

Charmy touched the screen. "Saffron…"

"I know how you feel," said Julie-Su. "Knuckles and I thought as long as we were committed to each other we didn't need a ceremony or some legal document. But being away from him for what feels like forever, I still don't think we need any of that, but I think I might want them all the same now."

Knuckles followed Charmy's lead. "If you want it, then you got it."

"Yeah," said Shade. "When me and Argo go through with it, I hope I look half as good you do right now. I'm solider through and through but that's going to be the one day I want to be a princess. Well it looks like the guests are all here and the groom is in place, time for you both to take the plunge and…"

Suddenly the whole room shook, the shaking knocked the recorder behind the dresser where Vector had found it. The recorder kept going as it looked like the battery was about to die.

"Was that an earthquake?" Saffron asked from off camera.

"In the Twilight Cage?" said Shade. "Not a chance, it felt more like the shockwave from a big explosion."

"Lien-Da you better stay here while I see what's going…ARGH!" Julie-Su screamed unseen.

"Julie!" Knuckles punched the ground.

"Julie, your arm, your quill!" Saffron yelled.

Suddenly the other girls screamed, and more screaming was coming from outside.

"Where is this pain coming from?!" said Lien-Da.

"It feels like my brain's on fire!" added Shade.

"What's happening to…!" Julie gritted out before the screen turned to static.

"Get it back!" Knuckles said to Relic.

"There's nothing to get back," the Pika said. "The battery died then, that's all she wrote."

"So, we learned just about everything except what actually happened to the echidna," grumbled Mighty.

"Saffron," Charmy said crying. "She really could be gone forever. I can almost feel her…" Charmy then looked confused. "Wait a minute, it feels a bit stronger over here."

Knuckles then beamed. "Of course, you have the soultouch now! Maybe I can…" Knuckles closed his eyes, went out of the apartment then stopped and smiled. "Yes, I can feel Julie! Being soultouched to someone makes you more sensitive to their pheromones, we can use that to find Julie and Saffron! Focus on her scent and the part of you that feels pulled to Saffron, try to find where it is pulling you to."

Charmy closed his eyes. "Ok, what am I smelling for?"

"Usually when you're soultouched instead of their actual scent your mind interprets it as something pleasant you associate with them.

Charmy sniffed. "I think I got it. It feels like she's somewhere in this direction!"

"I feel Julie's in the same place, keep focused on that feeling. Everyone else follow us!"

* * *

The Chaotix had followed the trail and to another courtyard but this one was surrounded by industrial buildings.

"I can feel it," said Charmy. "Saffron's nearby!" The bee looked around. "But this place looks abandoned too."

Vector knelt and inspected the rock. "Ground's been disturbed here too, like at the town square. It doesn't make sense."

Knuckles then cupped his hands around his mouth. "Julie! Julie it's us, we made it!"

"Saffron!" Charmy yelled. "It's alright, you don't have to hide!"

"Julie please answer me!"

"Wait a minute," said Ray. "Do you hear buzzing?"

"Forget that," said Espio drawing a kunai. "Something's coming out of the ground right there!"

A bit of earth next to Knuckles was being churned up. The next thing the echidna knew he was flat on his back as something began licking him with gusto.

"Hey, stop it!" Knuckles grabbed the thing liking him and held it at arm's length. It was about the size of a flicky or similar mobini that was pink, quadrupedal with a spiny back, curved claws that looked made for digging, a tongue longer than its mouth would seem to indicate and a tiny tail that was wagging like crazy.

"I've never seen a mobini like that before," said Mighty.

"But it also looks familiar," said Vector.

Knuckles suddenly froze in shock. "No, it can't be…Julie?"

The mobini stopped and had a quizzical look on its face as it made a confused squeak.

"That can't be Julie-Su." said Relic. "Can it?"

"I can tell from the soultouch, it's her."

"What happened to her?" asked Liza.

"Julie, do you remember me? Do you remember this?" Knuckles put the mobini down then took the blaster from the backpack and laid it down after locking the safety on. The mobini sniffed at it then ignored the gun to nuzzle his leg like a pet. "I think she recognized my scent, but I don't think she can remember from where."

Espio sighed. "Sadly, it seems like most Mobini her intelligence is now on the level of a small child."

Soon the devolved echidna then started yipping. Seemingly in response the ground was getting disturbed all around the Chaotix then several similar mobini of different colors came from the ground and started yipping along.

Knuckles fell to his knees. "Remington, Komi-ko, Wynmancher, Kneecaps, Mother, they're all here, they've all become this! They, they're all just…beasts!"

Charmy felt something land on his hand. He looked to see a tiny bee-like mobini about the size he would be when he would shrink down, it had an additional pair of legs. "Saffron?!" Charmy put the mobini on the ground. "Let me try something!" He soon shrank down to her size. "Ok, let's get big again, together. Ready?" Saffron just blinked in a confused manner. "Guys I don't think she can change size anymore! Oh, poor Saffron!"

"I promise," said Knuckles. "We'll find a way to change all of you back, Albion, Legion, Nocturnus everyone." He looked at two echidna mobini nearby, a white one and a red one, they both stepped back from him nervously. "Lien-Da, Finitivus, if Julie thinks you've both changed, I'll give you a chance after all I promised Dimitri." He then noticed an orange echidna approaching Julie. "You must be Shade. Don't worry, I'll change you, Nestor and Argo back as well. Thank you for being Julie's friend."

The mobini then suddenly looked panicked and began digging back into the ground closing the way behind them.

"Julie no! Come back! Why?!"

Suddenly the courtyard echoed with a menacing sounding chuckle. Charmy grew back to normal size and Saffron zipped into his hand which he gently closed around her.

Knuckles turned around and looked up to see a purple Tasmanian Devil standing on wall with one foot on the ledge and two devil dogs at his side growling. Knuckles made a fist. "Thrash."

"This," Thrash said as he continued to chuckle. "This is too good. I went on this mission because the old man wanted to know if the Echidna wiped themselves out yet and what do I find? They all came together instead only to suffer the same fate they condemned my people to. It's better than my father hoped for, poetic justice."

"It's not justice!" Knuckles yelled. "What happened to the Devil Dogs was generations ago, none of these people had anything to do with it!"

"You're right," said a white platypus in a red coat and glasses as he walked out next to Thrash. "This isn't Justice, it's a disaster! One of the most brilliant minds Mobius has ever seen reduced to a dumb animal! I wanted to learn from Finitivus now that Eggman's gone, but I guess I'll have to settle for using the Nocturnus weaponry to carve out my own empire on Mobius."

Vector smirked. "Doctor Starline I presume?"

Starline bowed. "At your service, as long as that service involves beating you into submission."

"Yeah," said Ray. "Not happening, in case you haven't noticed we have you outnumbered."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Starline raised his left hand so the back of his glove faced the Chaotix, on it was a circular yellow gem. "Not as long as I have my greatest invention, the Warp Topaz!"

The gem shined as a portal opened to what looked like a where a bunch of Nocturnus tech was being kept. Soon a very large gorilla with a soldier's helmet and bandoleer came through.

"Sargent Simian reporting for duty!" said the leader of the Destructix. "Roll call! Lightning Lynx!"

The ninja feline with blue gloves and boots with yellow lightning bolts leapt through at incredible speed. "I look forward to beating you lizard!" he said as he glared at Espio.

"Predator Hawk!"

A blue bird of prey with red gloves and boots flew out and slashed a nearby pillar with metallic feathers that were added to his forearm. "Like Infinite's little present for me?!"

"Flying Frog!"

A frog with a pilot's cap and a white scarf flew out on membranes that stretched from his arms to his waist. "So, who's ready for some fun?" He said with wicked glee.

"You don't scare us!" said Liza. "The Chaotix beat these goons before!"

"Not all these goons my dear," said Starline.

A pair of skunks, one short with purple fur and one tall with white fur and a cybernetic hammer like tail leapt out at the Topaz's portal closed.

"You all think you're so hot," said the purple.

"But get ready to be humble," said the white.

The they both finished together. "'Cause the Destructix now has Rough and Tumble!"

"Boy," said Relic. "Since Infinite was beaten your recruitment has seriously gone downhill."

"Is she making fun of us Rough or the Destructix?" the white skunk asked.

"Both Tumble," Rough grumbled. "She's making fun of both."

"I'd say the odds have been evened nicely," said Starline. "How about you let us take these weapons and you can do whatever you wish with the little dirt movers."

"Not in your twisted dreams," said Knuckles.

"I was hoping you'd say that," said Thrash. The next moment he gave a roar that threw the Chaotix against the wall. Thrash pointed at the stunned heroes. "Get 'em, but the echidna's mine!"

"Relic you're not a fighter!" said Vector as he started grappling with Sargent Simian. "Find some place to hide!"

"You don't have to tell me twice!" Relic said trying to run.

A portal appeared in front of her and Starline came through. "Sorry, but I'm afraid I need an expert in the ancient Echidna to be able to recreate all this tech. Come quietly and you won't be harmed."

Relic clenched her fist. "I've dedicated my life to recovering the lost secrets of ancient Mobius. I won't let someone like you misuse them!"

"If you insist, I'm more of a thinker than a warrior myself but I do enjoy the occasional workout!"

Starline tried to kick Relic, she dodged and just barely avoided the spur on the back of his ankle.

"_What have you gotten yourself into girl?!"_

Espio and Lightning Lynx were trading blows and dodging thrown weapons. Lynx threw a punch that Espio caught. "With these weapons I'll prove my worth to my bride."

"Your bride no longer leads the Raiju," said Espio. "And one of the first things Jian did when she became the Bride of Conquering Storms was to exile you permanently for the right reasons, your shameful misdeeds!"

Lynx growled. "Jian made the Raiju into a bunch of weaklings! Once the true bride recognizes my loyalty and worth, we'll prove just how weak the four clans have become!"

"Then for the honor of the Shinobi Clan I will defeat you!"

Predator Hawk and Ray were swooping at each other. "Did you get taller? Then let me cut you down to size!" Predator's legionized bladed wing nearly cut Ray's "wing".

"I'd ask if you got lamer," said Ray as he climbed up then divebombed predator in the back. "But you were already at zero and it doesn't get lower!"

Flying Frog was pursuing Charmy. "I'm going to swat you AND that little bug you seem to care about!"

As Charmy avoided Frog's tongue Saffron gave a scared whine from Charmy's hand. "Don't worry Saffron, I won't let this psycho lay a single webbed finger on you! We're all that's left of the Golden Hive Colony and I won't let Mom, Dad, Sis, Mellow and especially you down ever again!"

Charmy turned and flew into Flying Frog stinger first, the demented amphibian was forced to dodge.

Back on the ground Mighty and Liza were facing the crooked skunk brothers. Tumble tried to crush Liza beneath his legionized hammer tail. "I might have only finished my training recently, but your movement is so obvious I could have dodged it after my first lesson!"

Tumbled roared. "I'd crush you if you'd hold still!"

"Which is why I'm not going to!" Liza jumped off Tumbles' head and onto a wall.

Rough let loose a cloud of musk, Mighty sidestepped while pinching his nose closed. "You really stink, and this stuff smells bad too!"

"Yuck it up!" sneered Rough. "We'll make this team even more feared then when it was under the last boss and his hussy…"

Rough was forced to sidestep before a curled up Mighty nearly hammer dropped onto his head. "Shut up! You have NO idea what you're talking about, what she's been through, the guilt she feels!"

"Touched a nerve, have I?" Rough said with grin. "The rest of the gang might want to know where the girl who ditched them is."

Meanwhile Knuckles was trying to avoid both Thrash's blows and the bites of his devil dogs. "Look at how low you've sunk." Knuckles said as he knocked the devil dogs out. "You were a freedom fighter, you fought to free Downunda from Eggman. But you threw that away, joined a madman for the sake of a millennia long grudge and now you're helping another for what, money, power?"

"You'd never understand!" Thrash let out another roar, Knuckles ducked just as it blew a hole in the wall behind him. "For generations less and less Mobian devils were born and more and more devil dogs. My pets you just knocked out; those are my sisters! They never had a sapient thought in their lives, but we still recognize them as our own!" Thrash and Knuckles still exchanged punches and kicks. "And all the while our society decayed. I will likely never have a child of my own that can say 'I love you' back to me, my people might not survive past my generation and even if they do, they have only one, two more at best after that!

Thrash managed to knock Knuckles down and started beating on him. "But even dying we're a united people, but what has the mighty Echidna Civilization done in all that time? Pursue millennia long grudges as you called them, splitting and fracturing more willing to label those who disagree with them as either heretics or backwards fools then recognize their kinship. Even if I never came along it was only a matter of time until all sides paid the price of their fanaticism!"

Knuckles managed to grab his fist and punched him off. Knuckles was trying to figure a way out to win.

"_He said that Echidna history had become a record of brother turning against brother, sister against sister, husbands and wives, parents and children, and it would just keep going unless we chose to end it."_ Shade's words echoed in his head. Suddenly, he knew what he had to do.

Vector and Simian had broken off their grapple and had been trading punches. "Face facts croc," Simian boasted. "Infinite had trained my unit into a lean mean fighting machine, Eggman Legionzied us all after we were brainboxed, you have no chance of winning!"

"You may get new toys and learn some tricks, but you guys have the same weakness you had since Mammoth Mogul got you together."

"Oh, and what's that?"

Lynx had kicked Espio to the ground. "Any last words, Shinobi?"

Espio smiled. "Just one, Atari."

"Atari? You're not nearly surrounded, you're practically finished!"

"You also say it in Go when you're one move away from capturing one or more of your opponents' stones."

Mighty and Liza stood side by side as the skunk brothers squared off against them. "How about we take them both out with a spin dash Rough?"

"Best idea you've had all day Tumble!"

The two curled up and seemed to be starting to 'rev up' in place.

"Get ready," said Mighty.

"I know what to do," said Liza.

In the air above Predator had almost caught up with Ray. "He swoops to conquer!"

"Do not be so sure feather brain!" Ray yelled back at him.

Flying Frog cackled as he was on Charmy's tail. "You're a crummy prince! Your kingdom is gone, your people almost wiped out, the Golden Hive would have been better off if you were a jester like I was!"

"The Colony might be gone," Charmy said through tears on his determined face. "But I'll never be alone!"

"No matter who you guys end up fighting , it will always be people who have something worth fighting for," Vector said with a smile.

Rough and Tumble shot forward, Mighty and Liza leapt to the side as the careening skunks rolled into a U-shaped pipe that lunched them in the opposite direction. Lightning heard the brothers screaming an turned just in time to be hit by the two of them joining Rough and Tumble for the ride. In the air Ray and Charmy both veered off to the side just into time for Predator and Frog to have mid-air head-on collision and start to fall. Vector stepped back just in time for the other Destructix to crash into Simian knocking the whole gang out cold in a heap.

Espio and Liza got out some wire and tied the unconscious mercenaries together. "Well looks like this case is just about wrapped up."

The rest of the Chaotix responded with groans. "Really you're going with that?" said Mighty.

"Wait," said Espio. "Where's Relic and Knuckles?"

Relic came to the group gasping. "Starline got away from me! He said something about a trump card he was going to use on Knuckles!"

"Then we better find him fast!" said Espio.

Knuckles had landed a flurry of blows on Thrash just as he backed him against a wall. The devil fell to the ground looked up and chuckled. "So, what's it going to be, leave me here, lock me up, or finish me off? No matter what you do it won't change anything."

Knuckles gave him a hard stare. "You're right, nothing will change until both our people are extinct, unless someone is willing to be the first to let the grudge go." Knuckles offered his hand to Trash. "My people stagnated because we were more willing to condemn each other than reconcile, Eggman managed to hold onto power after the Bem's roboticization immunity in large part because he exploited divides between the different Mobian races when the truth is once you get to a basic level we're all actually one species with many forms. So, I'm willing to let what happened in the past to stay in the past."

Thrash growled. "A lot of good that's going to do my people, there's no turning back for either of us."

"From what we gathered it's possible some weapon is responsible for what happened here, one that can alter an entire population's genetics in moments. The best chance Julie and the others have of being restored is to use the same weapon and I think it can also restore your people's ability to reproduce Mobian offspring. I promise I'll push to make sure it happens so one day, once you make up for your mistakes, you'll be able to have a child that can tell you they love with their own words."

Thrash was wide eyed. "You're serious? We always thought it was simply hopeless, no one else had ever said they would even try." Thrash took Knuckles' hand. "Ok, I'll turn myself in, but you'd better…"

Suddenly both Knuckles and Thrash found their arms were cut by Starline's spurs as he leapt out of a portal. "Sorry, but I can't have him leaving and spoiling my plans."

Knuckles grunted as he threw a punch, but suddenly it seemed like there were five of Starline and it was hard to keep standing. "What in the…?"

"That would be the poison I coated my spurs with. Non-fatal in and of itself but I could easily finish you both if I wanted, but I think I'll just take this instead." Starline took the warp ring off Knuckles.

"Starline," Thrash growled. "You backstabber!"

"Stop right there!" yelled Vector. He and the rest of the Chaotix arrived on the scene.

"Ah, now for the final piece." Starline activated his Warp Topaz and a portal opened beneath Relic dropping her into his grasp. Starline then took out Julie-Su's gun and pointed it at the Pika's head. "Here's how things are going to happen if you don't want me scrambling her brains with a point-blank stun blast. I'll be leaving the Twilight Cage with the hostage, the Nocturnus tech and your warp ring. You will all be trapped here while the girl will assist me in reverse engineering the tech."

"I'd rather die!" Relic shouted.

"You don't get a choice."

"You're just stranding your allies?!" shouted Liza.

"They knew the risks and Trash was about to betray me. Now if you'll excuse me almost a day has passed in the outside world from my perspective and I don't want to waste any more time."

Suddenly several mobini echidna burst out of the ground behind Starline and fell on him. Julie-Su bit the hand holding her gun. Yelling in pain Starline dropped the gun and the hostage before he was pulled down by the small creatures.

"What are you doing?! Get off me!"

Two orange echidna, including one that seemed to have a damaged eye clawed at the back of left hand until the warp topaz fell from its setting and rolled next to knuckles along with the warp ring a red echidna with a smaller one on its back fished out of his pocket.

"Sorry Starline," said Knuckles. "But I'm revoking your portal privileges!"

Knuckles shattered the artificial gem in a single blow.

"NO! Without my Warp Topaz…"

Knuckles held up his warp ring. "Your only way out of here leads straight to a Republic prison cell!"

Starline growled. "I refuse! I won't let my genius be contained…ACK!"

Thrash grabbed the platypus by the throat. "Like you told the girl, you don't get a choice!"

Trash headbutted the scientist knocking him out cold. Moments later Starline was put with the still unconscious Destructix.

"Open the way for me and I'll turn these guys and myself in," said Thrash. "But my sisters come with me for the trip and you better keep your word!"

Knuckles opened the warp ring so it would easy to push the villains through. "I don't know if it's possible, but I spend the rest of my life trying if needed."

Thrash and his sisters began carrying the mercenaries through. "I guess that's all can hope for."

The ring closed and went back to Knuckle's hand. "Ok, first we're going to get Saffron and all the Echidna here back to Angel Island, then once there I'll use the warp ring to head back to Sir Charles' lab to talk with the Sky Patrol and get started on finding a way to reverse this." Knuckles then picked Julie-Su up and put her in the backpack. "You're coming with me, after everything we went through, I'm not letting you out of my sight until the woman I love is back to her old self."

Julie yipped happily.

* * *

The warp ring opened in the lab as Knuckles stepped through before it shrank down into Knuckles' hand.

"You're back," said Sir Charles. "The prison sent word that you and the Chaotix sent the Destructix and a couple other criminals their way, I take it that means your mission was successful?"

"Not completely," Knuckles sighed. "We found them but…" Knuckles set Julie-Su on the ground. "…this is Julie-Su, she and everyone else we were trying to save are all Mobini."

"Mobini?" Fiona was transfixed on the devolved echidna. "Mobini…mobini…moebini…AGH!" the vixen suddenly clutched her head.

"Are you alright Miss Fox?" asked Ben.

Fiona seemed to relax. "I…I remember now. I remember what happened on Moebius. Scourge, the Suppression Squad and…" Fiona gasped. "We have to call the Sky Patrol, now!"

"That's part of why I'm here," said Knuckles. "I was hoping Tails or Rotor might have an idea on how to undo this, but why the urgency?"

"Because they have to know or what happened on Moebius might happen here!" Fiona then motioned to Julie. "And instead of restoring the echidna we could all end up becoming just like them!"

A few moments later Knuckles and Fiona had a channel opened to the Sky Patrol's conference room. Everyone there looked shocked and worried.

"A Xorda gene bomb," Sally said with a hint of anger. "You're telling me that by manipulating you and the Destructix, Specter had given Viktor Robotnick a Xorda gene bomb?!"

"I'm not making excuses," said Fiona. "But I had to tell you because I've seen firsthand what Robotnick can do."

"No, you haven't," said Shadow. "At least not as bad as it could get. We all remember the Quantum Dial and what the Xorda revealed to us that day, the gene bombs reshaped the face of the planet, caused disasters that nearly wiped out all life."

"If it wasn't for those disasters this planet would still be called Earth," said Tails. "Mobians would have never evolved at all. We all owe our existence to weapons of mass destruction; our civilization came at the cost of billions of human lives…"

Cream took Tails hand. "Then we have to live enough for them too and be grateful for their sacrifice."

"Right now, the only past I'm interested in is what happened on Moebius," said Sally. "Fiona tell us the whole story."

Fiona took a deep breath. "After we broke out of the No-Zone prison Scourge wanted to ignore Finitivus' orders, take over the planet again and bring an army just to kill Sonic. I managed to get him try to track down what Finitivus wanted again, mostly by making him think it was his idea all along, but we found out things changed since the last time we were on Moebius.

"Alicia and Miles came up with a plan to load a bomb full of Anarchy Beryls, send it here and use it change the Prime Zone into another Moebius making their zone the others would have to follow. Problem was most of the beryls were on Devil Island, so they attacked O'Knuk and the Orderix. The Suppression Squad had beaten them badly, so badly O'Knuk and his partner Susie-Ju were desperate enough to break a seal to stop them.

"My double was a good guy and a pacifist unless pushed far enough," said Knuckles. "What did he end up unsealing?"

Fiona looked to the floor. "Enerjak, an Enerjak that wasn't so arrogant but just as twisted, and to make things worse their version of Aurora was on his side and they both possessed the those who broke the seal. The pacifist and, from what I heard, his hippie girlfriend became gods of destruction. Once they forced the Suppression Squad into retreating, they fused almost all the Anarchy Beryls together into what they called the Tyrant Beryl. You know how the Chaos Emeralds feed off the energy of emotions? Well turned out the Anarchy Beryls feeds the darker emotions of those using them, and the Tyrant was feeding the dark impulses of every Moebian, Underlanders like Ovi Kintobor were immune but soon almost the entire planet was pledging their loyalty to Enerjak and Aurora. It was about here we came in.

"The Suppression Squad had holed up with Alicia's hedonist brother Nigel, someone Scourge occasionally painted the town red with. Despite everyone hating each other we were forced into an alliance to gather what beryls we could so Scourge could go super and drain the power from Enerjak and Aurora. On top of Buns, Patch and Boomer, we had a few others on our side. Hershey's double Nestle, a mistress of misinformation who was catty in every sense of the word; Mina's double Nina, a shallow spoiled singer who expected everyone to do her work for her; Rouge's double Blush, a shrinking violet with almost no confidence but plenty of skill; Cream's double Vinegar, the most nihilistic and cruel child I have ever met; and finally… Fifi."

"Whose double was Fifi?" asked Sonic.

Fiona blushed embarrassingly. "Mine, Fifi was a bubbly bimbo who even at her worst and cruelest was the most optimistic person I have ever seen. When there was a chance Fifi could lose an arm, her reaction was 'goody, half-off manicures for life!' Seeing that, it started to make me think of what kind of person I let myself become and the cracks between me and Scourge deepened. After a few weeks Mammoth Mogul showed up, offered to help us and gave a down payment by bringing Moebians who had been locked up in the No-Zone prison until Dr. Nega attacked, including Jeremy St. Croix, Smalls and King Maxx himself. But given everyone's history the whole rebellion was a powder keg and it was more likely we'd kill each other than stop Enerjak. One day, I found that first Fifi tricked Scourge into thinking she was me for a date, we argued then Alicia suddenly announced that she was taking Scourge back, then he dumped me. I was so angry at him I decided once the job for Finitivus was done I wouldn't depend on anyone but myself and go back to thievery. I went looking for the Destructix to tell them I was leaving when…"

"You found out about Specter," said Tails.

Fiona nodded. "As dangerous he sounded, I knew I had to tell someone, I went to Miles and he brought Scourge, Alicia and Nigel together and came up with the plan. The next day we launched an attack on Alicia's castle to take down Enerjak and Aurora. While Scourge was facing them the Destructix and I were supposed to find the artifacts and send them to Finitivus, I was also given the job of keeping Mammoth from getting his oversized mitts on them, but once we got our target Mammoth showed up and mind controlled us. Scourge managed to drain Enerjak and Aurora sealing them again and returning O'Knuk and Susie to normal. But in Scourge's weakened state Alicia turned on him, Nigel took out his own father and everyone made a scramble for power. After sending the Destructix back to Mobius Mammoth kept me around for some reason I never got and used his magic to get the bomb to affect the whole planet.

Fiona began to sob. "It was horrible, Mammoth and I were immune because our DNA spiraled in the opposite direction of Moebians, but I was a prisoner in my own body while I watched everyone in such pain. Miles was desperate to hold onto his intelligence, Buns and Boomer's cybernetics becoming flesh and bone again but that seemed to only amplify their pain, not even Fifi could find anything positive about it. Scourge… he was crying like a little boy, asking his father why he wasn't looking at him, soon they all begged whatever power would listen for forgiveness if they would stop it from happening, but there was no answer. Soon every Moebian had devolved into simple Moebini. Mammoth opened a way back for me and commanded that I wouldn't remember any of it. Next thing I knew I was in the middle of the Great Desert alone with no idea how I got there and after walking for a day without water I came into a saloon and was being hugged by Mom."

"Oh Fiona," said Bunnie. "No matter what rotten things any of them did nobody deserves that."

"Telling us was a very brave thing to do," said Sally. "But the fact remains Robotnick is now in control of the last of those gene bombs and probably already used it to make dozens, if not hundreds of them. Worst case scenario, he could destroy Mobius the same way Earth was destroyed, best case he could devolve any area on the planet then his robots would be able to just move in and take over with no resistance. The only thing that's kept him from using them before now is that he wants the world watching when he does, that means he'll strike during the accord signing and that's only hours away!"

Sonic gave a thumbs up. "So, let's find Mr. Perfect, kick his butt, free our friends and put these gene bombs out of commission for good!"

"Wait Sonic," said Knuckles. "If possible, I want to save a few bombs, we might be able to use them to get the Echidna and Saffron back to normal, undo what my ancestors did to the devils and as crazy as it sounds cure Moebius too. Not every Moebian was evil, it wouldn't be right to leave them like that when we can help."

"From the looks of things gene bombs are programable weapons," said Rotor. "I mean when the big disaster happened the Xorda were just trying to devolve humans back to pre-sapience without touching anything else. That and the fact Viktor only gave this enhanced soultouch to mobians means he already figured how to make small changes on a species wide level. So yes, it just might be possible."

"We'll try to help them," said Sally. "But keeping Robotnick from using these weapons has to come first."

"I understand," said Knuckles. "But I'd like to join you via warp ring, see if I can't persuade Robotnick to let us 'borrow' his gene bomb plans."

"I think that's reasonable," said Tails. "If we get the plans and wipe them from Robotnick's systems he'll have to start from scratch if wants to make more, unless he has an eidetic memory."

"Let's hope not," said Antione. "Otherwise beating him will be zhat much harder."

"Guys," Silver called from the bridge. "I'm getting a breaking newscast from Freedom City. Rouge is patching it through."

The image shifted to a tigress anchorwoman. "This just in King Charlemagne has regained consciousness and has already officially abdicated to King Maximillian Acorn. As his first act on returning to the throne King Max's first decree was to reinstate Merlin Prower as court wizard and name Charlemagne as an official advisor to the Council of Acorn. In an official statement…"

The communication returned to normal. "Well that's one less thing to worry about," said Sonic. "Just warp here whenever and we should have enough time to get some shuteye before we hit the Colossus."

Knuckles used his warp ring. "Are you coming Fiona?"

"Oh!" Fiona said coming out of a minor daze. "No, I have to make sure Master Charlemagne is feeling well then I'll be leaving to tell Lucian and Amy the good news. Our old hideout wasn't exactly the best place to get info from the outside world."

"I'll leave you to it then."

Knuckles stepped through the Warp Ring and onto a hallway in the Sky Patrol. He took Julie-Su out of the backpack. "Don't worry, Sonic and the others will help me get you back to normal in no time. Then if you still want it, we'll start planning for our wedding."

Julie started licking Knuckles happily.

* * *

Not long after Fiona had gotten Nic's permission to take her hoverbike, the Fabulous Joker, and after telling her parents she was getting some things she left at Charlemagne's home was zooming out of Freedom City, tears falling behind.

"_I have to tell them before anyone else,"_ she thought to herself. _"But, how can I? I thought I had finally left all the pain and darkness behind. I had a fresh start, a clean slate, a loving family, forgiving friends and a great destiny ahead of me. But with what I can now remember put together with what happened to me since, I can't deny it anymore. I how can say I actually have any of that when the path that led me to them was based on a lie?!"_


	12. Operation Free Skies

Chapter 11

Operation: Free Skies

The alarm Sonic set had him up before the sun, after making himself a quick breakfast he came to the bridge and found Sally alone in the command chair.

"You know we're just going in a straight line at this point," he said to the princess. "You don't have to be up here when you could be getting some extra shuteye."

Sally turned around surprised. "Oh, sorry I couldn't sleep. I kept thinking 'this is it' either we fail to stop Robotnick's plan to use the gene bombs to devolve his enemies to the point where they'd be unable to stop him from taking over Mobius or we succeed and then what the council thought would come true, there wouldn't be a need for Freedom Fighters anymore. Whatever happens this could easily be our last mission together."

"There's still Masquerade and his pick-a-card club to deal with."

"True but it might be Knuckles and the Chaotix or Team Dark or any of the other Freedom Fighter divisions who end up dealing with them and even if we end up facing them we'd just end up right back here, peace within our grasp but if we get it there wouldn't be a reason for the Freedom Fighters to exist. It's what we all dreamed and strived for most or all our lives but now we could have it I find I don't really know what to do with myself. When we started, I thought It would just be my responsibility to take the throne, but now Father is healthy again and with Elias fathering his own child it doesn't seem to be my responsibility anymore."

"But is being queen what you really want?"

"For a long time, I just took it for granted, that was the path by birth laid out for me. But after being betrayed so often my father wanted to make sure I was the best ruler possible and…"

"He took it too far and acted like a jerk to everyone in the process."

"He and mother apologized to me for his behavior and her inaction a couple of days back, but the doubts I had about having the Source of All choosing who my husband would be began to make me wonder about what I wanted. Then after Eggman used the Phantom Ruby on me I tried to make my perfect world, justifying things I never would have before only to end up getting fooled and betrayed like my father and brother were."

Sonic hugged her. "You made a mistake and you learned from it. We always knew you'd be a great queen."

"If I must be I will but after that, just being born into a traditionally good family is no guarantee of goodness and I want to give future generations the best chance to stay free. I've come to think that in time I'd like the royal family's duties to be mostly ceremonial. As for me, I think even if there isn't a battle to be won, I'd still want to help people with all of you, especially you Sonic. You're worth keeping up with and that isn't just this new soultouch talking."

"I'd…like that too, and you're worth sticking around for even if you become Queen no matter what the Source would have said."

Sally giggled. "You as King. There are a lot of people, some including close friends, who just can't imagine it."

"Well whatever you end up choosing I'd like us to stay together for it." Sonic took a deep breath, he felt like now was the right time. He decided to start with a kiss…

As he leaned in, he found Sally had fallen fast asleep. After chuckling to himself he quickly ran out of the bridge and a second later came back in with a blanket. He draped the it over the princess and then looked out the viewport. _"I guess it's better to wait until after we win."_ He thought to himself. _"No more delays or denials, I'm going to ask what I should have a long time ago."_

* * *

The Sun had just started to rise as Vanilla took Chocola with her on a stroll through the flower gardens of New Spring Park. Cream had been invited to the accord signing ceremony and could bring a guest but yesterday Cream told her that she had to go with the Freedom Fighters to save Nicole and Hope Kintobor from Robotnick and took Cheese with her. She couldn't help but worry, the last couple of days did nothing but give her reasons to be worried about Cream. First her little girl was hit with a spell that made her not so little anymore, then after an overnight job on their DNA Cream suddenly had a boyfriend and one that, if things stayed the same, would be the father of her grandchildren, and now Cream was going into the Lion's Den.

It wasn't that Cream was doing something dangerous, she'd proven she could handle herself with Cheese by her side, what got to Vanilla most was that was what was now both different and familiar. Though nowhere near as rebellious as she had been in her younger days Vanilla was seeing in her daughter a lot of the young woman she used to be, the one who ended up losing almost everything. Vanilla shook out of her reverie; she was supposed to be clearing her head before she returned home to watch the ceremony on TV. She decided to sniff at the air and take in aroma of the flowers…

Suddenly she felt like she was being pulled away by something familiar, something that had a hint of baked carrots and freshly washed cotton. Chocola was keeping up as she felt herself moving almost without meaning to, he was asking in Chaoese where she was going. "I don't know Chocola," she said. "I feel like I have to…"

She stopped as she saw a ghost who stopped at the same time, yet everything in her was saying he wasn't. A little older but still in the same white shirt, red jacket and blue jeans, the same trusty pugil stick now dropping from his hand, the same ears, the same eyes…

"J-Johnny!?" the words just came out before she noticed a few other familiar faces were running to where they were.

"Hi Nilly," the grey rabbit said dumbfounded. "I'm home."

A pig, canary, black cat and a robian squirrel were coming towards Vanilla. Just as they got there, she gave the buck rabbit a hard slap on the face.

"Vanilla, what the heck?!"

"That was for making me think you were dead!" she then grabbed Johnny's jacket and pulled him close tears in her eyes. "And this is for how much I missed you!" She gave him a deep kiss he returned and once she pulled away and noticed her old friends. "You're all here? But the reactor, the explosion…"

"I remembered an obscure spell at the last second," said Ebony. "It saved us but even when I learned it the counter spell had been lost for ages. We spent the last seven years like ghosts until about a month ago thanks to that energy wave that was set loose when that Super Death Egg Robot went boom."

"We found out you had moved here afterward and decided at the very least we should get our fearless leader back to the missus," said Tekno. "Though I have to say you've changed a lot Nilly but after what happened to us it's understandable."

"So that's why Shortfuse wasn't de-robotized," Vanilla looked at the Robian. "Shorty…"

"It wouldn't have worked on me anyway," said Shortfuse. "I had what I found out was NIDS, so I'd have bit the dust by now if I was changed back. Honestly I like myself better this way."

"But enough about us," said Porker. "Where's Cream? We've seen her grow over the years but not since the Phantom Ruby War."

"Yeah," said Johnny. "I can't wait to for to finally introduce myself to her…"

"Johnny," Vanilla said grasping his hands. "There are somethings about Cream I have to tell you about first. Cream's fine but she went through a few things in the past couple of days you need to know…"

* * *

Geoffrey and Hershey felt sunlight coming through the window, they woke up then knowing it was time to get to work. When they got here yesterday, they found enough preserved food to last a few days but to stay long term they had to become farmers. Now while they like every other Freedom Fighter and refugee that hid during the Robotnick Regime had experience gardening as a matter of survival they still needed to know what they had to work with.

"There's a village nearby where we can buy seeds, almanacs and any tools we might have to replace," said Geoffrey. "But if they find out who we are…"

"Witchcart taught me an illusion spell," said Hershey. "I'll show you how to use it then if we keep our time there brief, we can get what we need without her or Naugus finding us."

"Wonderful, but today we're going to take full stock of the place, see what we have to work with and what kinds of crops we can maintain. I'd like the place where we're going to raise our children to be just perfect."

"Raise our children?" asked Hershey. "I know Mammoth said to start a family, but I don't think he meant it literally, just to live out our lives."

Geoffrey looked sullen. "So, you don't want children?"

"I…don't know. I never actually thought about it before. You want to be a father?"

"When Mammoth said that it made me think. When I was young, I looked up to my father and all I wanted was to be just like him. I thought I lost any chance at that after what I did but maybe if I become a father, at least I can make sure the next St. Johns can live up to the family name. Don't you want to pass a legacy like your mother's?"

"She did inspire me, but I used to think I always let her down." Hershey then smiled. "But following in her footsteps in guiding the next generation, I can't think of a better thing to dedicate myself to. Having a child is going to be a lot of work, but it also sounds so fulfilling and it's not like we have any other responsibilities anymore. Ok, let's do it! I'm not in heat yet but once I am…"

Geoffery gave her a deep kiss. "I promise you once we settle in, I'll make this place the best home our baby could ever have!"

"Our baby, just the words make me feel so… elated."

Geoffery started to head out the door "Then I'll leave you here to think about our baby while I go take stock of the tool shed and check the soil for…"

Before he could finish Geoffrey was shot onto the living room table by a jet of water.

"Geoffery!" Hershey yelled as she checked on her husband.

Geoffery coughed up some water and looked at the door. "How, how did you find our hideout?!"

Lucian stood in the door; his eyes glowing aqua as Amy materialized her hammer behind him. "Your hideout?! IT'S MY HOUSE!"

* * *

Nicole stirred from her sleep, the first actual time she had to do so. Shard had complained a lot about the limitations of these bodies he felt they were trapped in and while she was more accepting of Mobians' physical needs from her time with them she had to admit to Shard that becoming tired and needing to remove waste from her new body were not the most pleasant things. Of course, the whole situation would be more bearable if they weren't locked up onboard the Colossus and the foul-tasting slop their captors gave them as their first meal as Mobians could only be defined as food in broadest possible sense.

"Shard, are you awake?"

The hedgehog with the yellow streak groaned. "Now I am. I don't suppose you figured out a way we can stop Viktor from using those gene bombs from here, have you?"

Nicole sighed. "No, I haven't. If I could access the Robotnick's network I might be able to sabotage those bombs and plant a virus that could wipe any system that would try making these things again, even in this body I could write the program in about half an hour instead of a few seconds."

"And the only thing keeping you from doing so is a physical lock on the door and the certain chance that Viktor had already changed the password on his systems."

"Then I better get you both out while I can," Hope said as she leapt down from a ceiling vent on the other side of the door. "I managed to snag Snively's spare key card from behind a photo he has of Regina, I still can't imagine what she sees in him."

Hope swiped the card opening the door.

"Thanks Hope," Nicole said with a nod. "Still getting to a terminal is going to take some sort of diversion for me to do my work."

The lights on the ship all changed to a dull red, Hope looked surprised. "Why the emergency lighting? I disabled both the alarm and put the cameras in this room on a repeating loop before I came in."

Soon the whole room seemed to shake, just as Phage's voice came over the PA. "All hands general quarters, we are under attack!"

Shard grinned. "I think we have our diversion! Looks like the Freedom Fighters got your message!"

"Then we better get to a terminal so I can code the virus and hope Sonic keeps Viktor busy long enough for us to us it!"

* * *

Up on the bridge of the Colossus Viktor's eyes were already black as he glared at the GUN battleship off their port side. "How did they know where and how to target us?!"

Lilith was looking over the shoulder of one of the robots manning the ship's controls. "They hit the shielding on our port side, shield integrity reduced to seventy-seven percent. My guess they somehow found out how to detect the heat from the engines and adjusted from there."

"My half-sister no doubt," grumbled Snivley.

"Come about and target their bridge and engine room," roared Viktor. "Launch the aviator swats, blow them out of the sky!"

* * *

As the Colossus started to turn Sally allowed herself a smile. "He took the bait! Sonic are you and Shadow ready down there?"

"I'm already revving in place just tell me when to gun it!"

"In that case Tails prepare to get us out there! Antione as soon as we get a clear shot fire the Sonic Power Cannon!"

"Roger!" both the Fox and Coyote said.

"Letter of Gabriel we're moving into position."

"Whatever you're doing make it fast," Amanda Tower said. "We've already took a few hits; we'll have to disengage and make repairs at the nearest base."

"Understood, Tails now!"

The Sky Patrol came out from behind the Letter of Gabriel where they were hidden from the Colossus' radar. As the battleship began to away Tails moved the ship to dodge enemy fire and avoid crashing into the GUN jet fighters returning from their sorties.

Antione had his eyes glued on the display in front of him. "Cible verrouillée… feu! (Target locked…Fire!)"

* * *

The blue projectile spun through air after it was launched from the comparatively diminutive vessel. The ship rocked as it slammed into the Colossus.

"Hangar two has sustained heavy damage!" said Phage. "Repair bots sent and…I am losing contact with the neo swats in the area, repair bots are also blinking out!"

"Get me the security cameras in that hangar!" Viktor bellowed. One of the holographic displays began to show a blue blur slamming into the bots in the area. "Sonic!"

Snivley peaked out from under his station. "But how did he…"

"They're firing again!" yelled Lilith.

A black projectile was shot this time into the hangar and soon a black blur was destroying the hangar interior. "Shadow, does that answer your question Snivley?!"

"They have a gun that fires hedgehogs?!" said Snivley. "I think I want to use my vacation and sick days now…"

"Too late," said Phage. "The Freedom Fighter ship is already heading for that hangar. Due to damage to our weaponry there we'll be unable to keep them from boarding."

"How soon until the gene bombs are in position?!" yelled Victor.

"The first batch will reach their orbital planes in roughly thirty minutes."

"An eternity as far as Sonic is concerned," moaned Lilith.

"He'll try to rescue his little friends first," said Victor. "All hands prepare to repel borders! Get the Neo Metal Series to pursue! Today is the day my Ascendency rises, the day I prove my superiority over both of my predecessors, and I won't let anything stop it especially a hedgehog that just lucked out on the chaos power lottery!"

* * *

The fight was taken outside of the cottage, Geoffrey was using a prolonged gust to try to push back Lucian's stream of water. "We just wanted to be left alone! We weren't going to hurt anyone, just disappear and grow old together!"

"And you thought the best place to do it was where I grew up?! Where Master Charlemagne trained me, where he taught me how use Ixis Magik?! More likely you two are trying to steal our secrets for the Order!"

Hershey set the grass at Lucian's feet on fire forcing him to disengage. "This is the only place we can be safe from Naugus and Witchcart! It's more important to us than you!"

"Storming Heart!" Amy shot little pink hearts towards the St. John's who leapt back before the hearts landed in small explosions. "You could have asked the Freedom Fighters for help! Despite what you might have done wrong we don't abandon people in need! We beat Naugus before, there's nothing different about this time!"

"There's no way out from the pact!" said Geoffrey as electricity crackled in his hands. "Even if you locked them away it would only be a matter of time until they chased after us again. You won't kill them, and we can't, so this is our only escape!"

Geoffrey sent a bolt of lightning at Lucian, the Tenrec responded by throwing a huge icicle like spear at the skunk. Suddenly a large wall of stone erupted from the ground between them and took both attacks. Everyone turned and spotted the source of the spell.

"Fiona?!" Amy gasped.

Fiona looked like she was crying, but she also had an expression Amy saw her have when she was with Scourge, one that just seethed anger.

"Stop it! This fight is meaningless, the real enemy has been right under our noses the entire time!"

"Fiona, I don't understand," said Lucian. "What enemy?"

"I know what you're getting at," said Geoffrey. "But Hershey and I escaped here, we have nothing to do with this enemy."

"No!" Fiona snarled. "You didn't escape at all, your masters herded you here!"

"But Mammoth gave us this place to embarrass Naugus and Witchcart. As bad as he is, he keeps his word. Since Lord Specter used it as a hideout it's well warded."

"No Master Charlemagne set up the wards," said Lucian. "I don't know how he found out about it, but Mammoth lied to you!"

"You're both right, and both wrong," said Fiona. "The lie is more simple and subtle then that. It was only once I got my memories of my lost time on Moebius with Scourge and pieced them together with my experiences afterward that I realized the truth. A horrible truth that I wish with all my heart wasn't so but one that I can no longer deny after all the trust and forgiveness everyone has given me."

Memories echoed in the vixen's head, fitting together like pieces of a Jigsaw puzzle.

Fiona was keeping an ear out as Mammoth's master was giving him instructions. _"Remember Master Mogul above all else the vixen who betrayed the Freedom Fighters must be brought back unharmed. She has a great destiny to play in the Grand Design."_

After she brought her parents back from the brink of death with her newfound power the Overlander gave a tired smile. _"Your whole life, your suffering, your crimes, your friendships, and your betrayals were all for a purpose. You have a great destiny ahead of you and it's time to take the next step and become the Ixis Witch you were always meant to be."_

"_Don't worry about what happens to her after tomorrow Mogul, she will fill out the Grand Design out of the desires of her own heart."_

She was asked out of the blue to cure the one person who once had everything she was denied, someone she once hated with a passion. She didn't just feel unready but unworthy, but he just gave her that same tired smile. _"You don't give yourself enough credit and more importantly much as the princess needs to be restored you know in your heart you need just as badly to be the one to do it."_

As much as she didn't want to admit it, she couldn't avoid seeing his kindly face, before it was obscured by the mask which proceeded to laugh at her. She knew they all needed to know.

"Master Charlemagne and Lord Specter are one and the same."

"WHAT?!" yelled Lucian. "That's crazy! How can you say that about the man who reopened your closed off heart?! The man who practically raised me, it's disrespectful!"

"Try impossible!" said Hershey. "The day before yesterday we all saw Charlemagne when Lord Specter captured him and took the purple emerald! He can't be in two places at once!"

"Split image," Amy squeaked out. "Master Charlemagne taught me the split image spell, if he needed to be in two places, he could make a copy of himself that would be indistinguishable from the real thing."

Lucian was shocked. "Amy, you believe this claptrap?! I mean she said it herself two days ago, he'd have to know about somethings beforehand like me being on Malada Island to get any of this to work!"

"Like you can from seeing the future?" said Fiona.

"That's different, for me it's an inborn psychic ability and I can only look into the near future, this would need days, weeks, months, heck even years of advance knowledge to pull it off."

"Silver and Gold's interloper," said Amy. "What if somehow Specter is connected the future they are trying to prevent, the one where Mobius is ruled by a totalitarian regime that was out to conquer the galaxy?"

"If he is then he's well on his way," said Fiona. "As soon as he recovered and abdicated, he was named an advisor to the Council and has the overwhelming support of them and the king, he might be able to wield even greater power from behind the throne."

Lucian felt weak in the knees. "This doesn't sound at all like the man who has been like a father to me."

"I don't want to believe it either," said Amy. "But if we want to clear his name, we have to ask about all this."

"Let's say you're right about this and Mammoth lied to me and Hershey and sent us here on Lord Specter's orders," said Geoffrey. "What would Lord Specter have to gain from it?"

"I don't know," sighed Fiona. "But this place isn't as safe as you thought it'd be, the Freedom Fighters are your only hope now."

"Tails thinks he found a way to break the pact each of you have," said Amy. "It means giving up your Ixis Magik, but we found out there's a chance something called Ixis might be able to control you through it so there's another reason to go along. We've been trying not to use our powers unless we have to, but we might not need it once Sonic and the others stop Robotnick for good."

Geoffrey started to growl. "But our magic is our only…"

Hershey but a hand on Geoffrey's shoulder. "Dearest she's right, about staying here at least. If they can find us, then so can Witchcart and Naugus. We have to turn ourselves in."

Geoffrey took Hershey's hand. "But what about our plans, what about the baby we wanted to have?"

"Elias offered to consider exile as a punishment for you rather than prison so we can be together, I wouldn't mind accepting that myself if it means our baby can live in the Republic one day if they want to. I don't think we should give up our magic just yet, to protect our baby, but not using it might make it harder for the Order to find us."

Geoff sighed. "Alright, we'll go."

"Mind if we grab a bite to eat first?" asked Amy. "It was a bit of a trip getting here and after that dust up we'll need some more energy before we start making our way back."

"We have some dried fruit and other rations in the kitchen," said Hershey.

"That sounds about right," said Lucian. "Ok breakfast first, then back to Freedom City." As the group went inside Lucian noticed an old photo was turned down on a mantle and righted it. It shown Lucian when he was about eight years old laughing with an overlander who looked a few years past his prime. _"Master Charlemagne, please don't let everything we shared just be a pretense to for some twisted scheme for revenge."_

* * *

A few gladiator swats ready to unleash a barrage of rockets down the narrow hallway. Big forced his way past the rest of the team and charged the bots just before the rockets fired. Sally and Antione leapt from behind Big and cut down the half dozen troopers behind the gladiators.

"Company coming on our six!" Rouge shouted as she kicked through a few troopers.

"On it, Sugah-bat!" Bunnie then extended her arm to punch holes through the scouts that were speeding up on them.

"Any idea where to find Hope or your AI ally?" Shadow said as he shot through several troopers.

Tails looked over his portable computer. "If this is like previous Egg Carriers then I have the approximate positions of both the brig and the closest primary terminal to it and launched our attack as close as I safely could to them."

"I brought a replacement handheld for Nicole," said Rotor. "Once we locate her on the ship's systems and get her in it then we'll find out how Robotnick's going to deploy these gene bombs and from that the best way to stop them."

"A bold plan," Viktor said over the PA system. "But one that will prove futile!"

"Figures Robotnick would be watching us!" snarled Silver and he used telekinesis to tear a locked door from its frame.

After he used several homing attacks to take out more Neo Swats Sonic growled. "If you're so keen on chatting why don't you come down here and do it face to face Mr. Perfect?!"

"As much as I'd like to even the score with you, I'm won't be so foolish as to expose myself to attack without any benefit to myself."

"That just shows how cowardly and lonely you are Viktor," said Sally. "Unlike you I'm willing to take risks because I know my friends will be there to catch me when I fall."

"You think you can overcome my intellect with simple numbers? Right when I am on the verge of proving myself the better of both Ivo Robotnick and Dr. Eggman?"

Cream found the nearest camera and looked straight into it. "It's not about numbers, it's about the bonds we share! I was told your whole story. Created to be exactly like a man who did very bad things, living in constant fear that if he ever found that you weren't, you'd be wiped away like you saw so many others were." Her eyes started tearing up. "But he's gone now, you don't have to be like him anymore. I think Robotnick and Eggman made so many machines because they were lonely, just like you are lonely. If you really want to prove you're better than both them do the one thing neither was willing to do. Give up, stop hurting people and let us save you from yourself. Then once you've shown you're really sorry then I'm sure you'll have lots of friends and you'll never be lonely again."

"Is…is it really that simple?" Viktor's voice seemed softer than usual. "To be surpass my predecessors I just have to do the opposite of everything I was made to do. I don't have to surround myself with mindless drones that don't feel sympathy, that can't think beyond their programming, that don't…"

Suddenly a pair of heavy doors fell shut sealing the hallway, a powerful sucking sound permeated the corridor.

"…need oxygen!" Viktor laughed.

A set of missiles popped out of Omega's shoulders. "Neither do I!" The missiles fired and blew apart the door ahead. "Barricade to ally survival eradicated. Continuing mission to neutralize Robotnick threat."

As everyone else gasped for air Cream continued to cry. "Why can't any of them understand? When will we face someone we can convince to just stop fighting? Am I just that naive?"

"No Cream," Bunnie said calmly. "But not everyone can see when they're wrong and it takes effort to admit when you are. Don't give up on that attitude though, we need more folks who think that way not less."

"As noble that is, we're pressed for time," said Knuckles. "We need to get to…"

Suddenly the backpack Knuckles was wearing started to wriggle as a pink echidna mobini climbed out and began to sniff around.

"Julie, what is it?" Julie started to claw at a vent in the floor. "You smell something coming from there?"

"Probably food," said Rotor.

"Non," replied Antione. "I've spent years in the kitchen, if there was something edible down there I'd know."

"Wait I hear something," Rouge said. "Sounds like someone is talking down there… wait a sec, that's Hope's voice!"

"Hope!" Shadow shouted. "Can you hear me?!"

"Shadow?!" Hope yelled through the vent. "I was hoping it was you or the Freedom Fighters that was responsible for this attack."

"The rest of us are here too," said Sally. "And we're glad you managed to escape."

"Well I can still use you your help. Nicole's almost got the system password and we can write a virus to keep Viktor from activating the gene bombs but if we access the schematic files again it will alert the whole ship to our location."

"Hang on, I'll make a path for us to get to you." Knuckles picked up Julie. "No offense but you're in no condition to get into a fight. I just need you to hold out for a bit longer." After he put his transformed girlfriend back into the knapsack Knuckles slammed both his fists on the grate and tore a large hole into room with several terminals.

Sally came up to Nicole and a black and yellow hedgehog she didn't recognize. "Don't worry Nicole, we'll get you out of Viktor's systems…"

"I'm already out," Nicole said. "Robotnick had put my AI and Shard's into organic bodies and removed the way we could get out of them. We can worry about that later though, right now we're trying to finish up the virus we'll need to stop these bombs."

"How does it work?" asked Rotor. "Tails and I could help you two, then if we split the coding it'll be that much faster."

Nicole nodded. "The bombs themselves aren't really that much more than a delivery system, shockwaves created by high altitude explosions spread trillions of nanites that are programed to change identified DNA sequences to whatever template they've been preprogramed with. Since these nanites can rearrange matter they can change cybernetics into organic material as part of the process and they're so small they can pass through the gaps between particles so no structure would offer any protection. This virus must wipe clean any system that has the nanite schematic, that way even if Viktor has memorized how to make these, he'd have to build the infrastructure to do so by scratch and we could just plant it all over again."

"What about the disasters that happened?" said Tails.

Nicole's eyes widened at the now taller fox. "What happened to…"

"Long story, but for now try to prevent the worst from happening just in case."

"Well from Snivley's notes the nanites programming was messed up because the world had a big influx of chaos energy when it never saw it before, not something that can happen twice."

"One less thing to worry about, but it also means there's nothing holding Robotnick back from using them," said Rouge.

"Then we all better get to work!" Sonic turned to Tails, Rotor, Nicole and Hope. "You just be sure to get a copy of those gene bomb plans, Knux is going to need them to get the Echidna back to normal after Masquerade used one of his spares to test Mr. Perfect's new toys. We'll buy you all the time you need!"

"So, will I," said Shard. "I might not be a literal fighting machine anymore, but I still remember enough to hold my own!"

"Sonic!" an electronic voice called out. Metal Sonic, the rest of the Neo Metal Series and several neo swats could be seen in the hallway beyond. "You may have won our last bout but now we have the home field advantage!"

Sonic kicked three neo swats destroying them. "As if I'd let a bunch of tin cans like you prevent me from proposing to Sal!"

Sally turned to Sonic while she was halfway through cutting a neo swat in half. "Wait, propose?!"

Sonic looked nervous as her moved to Sally's side while keeping his eyes on the fight. "I said that out loud?"

"Sonic!" Sally blocked a blow with her ring blade. "Are you asking me to marry you now?!"

Sonic was darting between Metal Tails tail spears. "Well last night I got to thinking, I spent a year trying to get you back. I mean if after that, that big breakup we once had and everything else we've been through if we got through all that then we might as well tie the knot."

Sally dodged Metal Amy's hammer "And you thought the best time to do it was while we were engaged in mortal combat?!"

Sonic and his doppelganger were trading blows. "Well I wanted to ask you when I found you on the bridge this morning, but you fell asleep and I could tell you needed it, so I left you alone!" Sonic bounced off Metal Knuckles' head. "It just came out! I didn't think you'd say no because of a slip of the tongue!"

Sally kicked Metal Sonic away and stepped right up to the original's face. "I'm saying yes, you idiot! I just would have appreciated it if it wasn't when our lives were in danger!"

"Wait you mean it?!"

"What we have, it's been the best thing that has come out of all hardship we've had to endure since this journey began. Even if this is going to be our last mission as Freedom Fighters, I want us to just keep going. So yes Sonic, I will marry you."

The two moved in to kiss each other just before Shadow kicked Metal Sonic out of the way. "As wonderful a time as you're having, perhaps we should focus on stopping Robotnick's doomsday weapon?"

"Right," Sally turned to those still coding. "How are you doing?"

Tails took a space at one of the terminals and put a drive into it. "I got the plans, now we just have to compile the virus and…"

Suddenly every monitor not in use displayed a news feed. "And now the assembled leaders of the nations of Mobius have begun to sign the accords," said an offscreen newscaster.

Hope looked confused. "Viktor should know we're planning something here, why would he want us to see this?"

"The whole world is watching it!" said Sally. "Robotnick is about to make his move, you need to hurry!"

"And now King Acorn is signing one of the last two signatures alongside United Federation President Michael Whitmore, and there it is! The Mobian Accord have been signed and a new age of peace and…"

The signal suddenly changed to show the dragon winged gear with a lightning bolt of the Robotnick Ascendency.

* * *

Amy was showing the same image to everyone gathered around the table in the cabin on the portable terminal Tails invented.

"People of Mobius," Viktor said on the terminal as the image changed to show him to his audience directly. "I am introducing myself to the world at large for the first time. I am Viktor Robotnick, the ultimate synthesis of artificial intelligence, cybernetics and genetic engineering as well as the leader of the Robotnick Ascendency, the power that shall rule this planet from now until the end of time."

"Looks like the Freedom Fighters won't be able to protect us after all," said Geoffrey. "Not with him about to keep their hands full."

"I believe in Sonic," said Amy. "He's never let us down when it mattered, why should it be any different with whatever plan Viktor needed to shoot us all with DNA for an echidna mating bond for?"

* * *

Everyone in the council rotunda saw Robotnick on large monitors overhead as whispers of concern and fright spread.

"I will make my demands simple, the unconditional surrender of every government in the world within the next seven days or else your nations, your civilizations and all the people who make them up will be consigned to the ash heap of history!"

As everyone continued to worry Commander Tower came up to president Whitmore. "He's bluffing, there's no way he can do that with just one battleship."

"We can't underestimate Robotnick!" said Pythagoras. "Where's Charlemagne, we need his consul!"

Max looked to the floor ashamed. "You were right Little Bean, why were we all fool enough not to listen?"

Blaze kept her eyes focused on the screen. {Silver, how close are you to completing your mission?}

{Getting there,} Blaze heard Silver say in her mind. {But according to Tails coding a polymorphic overwriting computer virus, whatever that is, that can bypass the defenses of Robotnick's network isn't a fast thing to do even with four people working on it at once. We're making sure they can do it, but this was always going to be close.}

{We'll try to help where we can,} Blaze heard Gold say. {You keep it up and if you have a chance let Big know I'm ok. Back in that last attack he protected me, I want to give him a chance soultouch or not.}

{Can do.}

{We all have our jobs,} Blaze thought. {Let's make sure that the future is sent down the right path.}

* * *

"Now many of you will no doubt be skeptical of my ability to accomplish this, but I can carry out my threat because I control a weapon that changed this world's destiny forever and now it will do so again for me! I have revived the Xorda gene bomb!"

"Think you have one more scrap left in you Nilly?" asked Techno as she and the rest of the wild bunch was watching from the rabbit's home.

"I would if I had to," said Vanilla. "But I don't think any of us can help right now."

"Our daughter is going after him," said Johnny. "She might be bigger than I thought she'd be, but I watched you long enough to see she's gentle but she's also tough. I know you believe in her and so do I."

* * *

"And to prove my intent I am going to give you a limited target demonstration. Lilith can you please explain while I go make final preparations?"

"Of course, Viktor," Lilith said as she appeared on the screen. "I am Lilith Robotnick. Like Viktor, I am also an AI in a cybernetically and genetically enhanced clone body, we like to think of ourselves as the final step in human evolution, Homo Perfectus if you will."

"Well they both have Robotnick's ego down," said Vector.

Espio turned to the pink chameleon. "Liza since there's a chance we might fall victim to this there's something I have to say. I'm sorry I lied to you and the other chameleons of Rainbow Valley. It was on the Bride's orders, but I regret it all the same. Seeing how far your training has brought you I just want to say whatever happens I'm proud of what you've accomplished, and I hope you can forgive me."

Liza touched her horn to Espio's . "You were able to save us; you earned my forgiveness a long time ago. My forgiveness and my heart as well."

* * *

"Our version of the gene bomb is an orbital weapon. Our manufacturing and deployment capabilities have allowed us to set up a constellation of twenty-four gene bomb satellites in six orbital planes with four bombs a plane that each completes two orbits every twenty-four hours. They are arranged in a manner that any one location on Mobius will be under the influence of at least four bombs so up we can lose almost eighty percent of the network at once while still ensuring global coverage at best."

In the head office at Casino Night zone Breezie the Hedgehog hit the top number on her speed dial and got her boss' voice mail. "Mr. Mogul I'd hate to interrupt whatever it is you're doing but we have bit of a crisis going on, so call back as soon as possible!"

* * *

"Each satellite can be replaced, and the network reestablished within minutes. In short we have a weapon that is impossible to defend against and unmatched in scope."

"I'm done here!" said Rotor as he kept typing at his terminal. "Sending you my portion to compile now!"

"I just finished too!" said Tails.

"Me too!" said Hope.

Nicole nodded. "Once I finish compiling this virus, we just have to break the password into Viktor's systems. I wish I could still hook up to it, I can't go through all the…"

"Withdrawing from battle to assist in this endeavor will ensure eradication of Robotnick forces," Omega said as he came into the room. "I shall provide assistance." Omega shot a wire from his wrist to the main terminal. "Accessing systems, engaging digital warfare protocols…"

"Someone trying to poke around where they shouldn't?" came a voice from the terminal. "At least you brought me a snack!"

"Phage!" Nicole shouted. "Omega watch out!"

Jolts of electricity ran up the wire and back to Omega. "Warning, hostile software detected in systems. Moving all operations to security protocols. Ineffective, initiating emergency anti-malware purge and reboot routine. Good night for good, intruder!"

"ARGH!" the electricity seemed to shoot back across the wire just before Omega pulled it back before slumping over his optics turning off. "That was too close, I barely have enough of my program left to prevent remote access!"

Tails growled. "Great, how do we get into their systems now!?"

In the video feed a console beeped. "Now it is time for our demonstration," said Lilith. "Viktor my darling, who are the poor unfortunate souls who are going to find themselves our first official victims?"

"Oh, I had already picked a target that will give us a tactical advantage," Viktor chuckled an image of him in and elevator appeared on the screen.

Sonic winced that he wasn't fast enough to save whoever Robotnick was going devolve but promised himself that he'd get them back to normal too. One look at Sally and he could tell that she was thinking the same thing.

Suddenly the two of them and everyone other than Hope and the robots fell to their knees as their bodies were wracked in immense pain. The metal series and the few surviving neo swats stopped attacking.

"He's hit us?!" Bunnie said as her mechanical limbs seemed like they were changing to flesh and fur. Sonic would have sworn that they were being de-roboticized if he didn't know they were replacements.

"Please someone help!" Cream cried as her clothes started to look loose on her. Cheese hugged her looking panicked.

"Froggy, I don't feel so good!" Big groaned as his little buddy looked at him with worry.

"Afterall," Viktor said as he came out of a nearby elevator. "What better way to showcase our power to the world than by showing them all the Hero of Mobius as he's reduced to a harmless idiotic critter."

"You set a trap for us," Sally grunted, barely able to keep her jacket on her frame. "You led us here to use us, make everyone afraid."

"Having you here is just a bonus. I guess you're already starting to lose your intelligence, or you might have noticed that Hope Kintobor and myself are unaffected."

"Hope, take…" Nicole said reaching a hand to the overlander girl. Suddenly she dropped the drive in her hand as it started to look more like a paw, and she yowled like a wounded wildcat. Hope quickly picked the drive up and stashed it in her pocket before Metal Sonic grabbed her.

Viktor started to chuckle. "When I said the demonstration was on a limited target, I didn't mean geographically. Like my earlier test it is global in scale but limited it to a single species, mobo sapiens. In other words," Viktor's eyes became black and red. "The entire Mobian race!"

* * *

In the council rotunda panic was in full swing as the various delegates and attendees screamed and moan as their bodies started to change. "Megan, Alexis" Elias groaned as he checked on his wife and daughter.

"My babies," Megan said as she held a screaming infant one hand and the other was protecting her stomach. "My babies…"

"Mom, Dad!" Ariel cried, her sister Athena tearing up as Lupe, Lobo, Marcos and Maria were down on their hands and knees. "He's lying, you'll be ok right?!"

Lupe fell to her hands and knees. "I, I…AWWWWWWWWOOOOOOO!" In a second Lupe's husband and biological children began to howl along with her like wounded animals.

"Dear Lord," President Whitmore gasped as he saw King Max, Queen Alica, the Council of Acorn and their spouses start to change.

"Mr. President we have to get you out of here!" Commander Tower said from behind him.

The president turned looking angry. "You expect me to run while these people are suffering?!"

"I have troops and other personnel who will do all they can for the Mobians. But protocol is clear, in the event of an attack my duty is to get you to a secure location!"

The president's face sank as he was led away. "Is anywhere secure from a weapon like this?"

* * *

In Cream and Vanilla's house the Wild Bunch writhed on the ground as they groaned, squealed, squawked or yowled in pain, except for one.

"Shorty," Vanilla cried her incisors appearing to be bigger on her shrinking body than they were before. "Go, get help."

"If only this was a problem I could punch away!" yelled the robian squirrel. "Alright, but only because there's no one to run from!"

Shortfuse ran out the door and jetted off. He looked around at the chaos in the streets. "Cream, I hope you're doing better than we are kiddo!"

* * *

On Angel Island the Chaotix found themselves doubling over.

Charmy felt his size changing power activating against his will, despite his best efforts he couldn't make himself grow back to normal size. He looked up and saw the devolved Fiancée looking at him with deep concern. "Saffron… I promise… you won't… be alone..."

Saffron made a worried noise.

* * *

In Charlemagne's cabin the assembled mages could barely stand. "Sonic," Amy said with tears in her eyes as her dress started to fall off her shoulders. "Please help us!"

"No, not again!" cried Fiona moaned as she felt her teeth start to become more pointed. "I can't see this again!"

Geoffrey and Hershey looked at each other's hands as their claws became more pronounced. Lucian was on his hands and knees as looked up to the picture he set back up on the mantle. "Master, why? Did you help do this to us?"

* * *

Viktor was looking over Freedom Fighters as their transformations continued. Knuckles fell on his stomach as Julie slipped out of the backpack again. As he reached out to her, he found the spikes on his hands had grown and seemed to be merging with his fingers, looking at Julie's claws there was a growing resemblance. "Together…forever…" Knuckles said as Julie nuzzled him.

{Blaze, Gold,} Silver said through his mental link. {I don't know if we can keep this up, it's getting hard to think.}

{I can hear everyone's thoughts,} Gold replied. {Such pain, but now it's becoming simpler. Can't concentrate.}

{Did we mess up?} thought Blaze. {Is this going to be our future now?}

Silver tried to remember the mission, but everything was getting fuzzy. {Don't…know.}

Viktor eyes were blue and dispassionate. "Nothing personal, but this was best tactical move. Mobians make up somewhere between eighty and ninety percent of the sapient population of the planet, with so many potential threats removed I can take military and manufacturing facilities with little resistance while I let the rest ponder my ultimatum. Even in the unlikely event GUN finds a way to protect humans and overlanders from the gene bomb they will be spread too thin to respond to every attack, the United Federation will have no choice but to surrender."

Shadow saw Rouge shrieking as the wings on her back started to shrivel while her arms began to take the shape of new ones. He turned his attention on Victor and formed a small amount of yellow energy in his palm, while clutching his head with his other hand. "CHAOS…THINGIE!"

The bolt of energy seemed to weaken as it flew, by the time it hit Robotnick it was the size of a miniature pencil and merely made him lose his balance for a second.

"Ugh, that stung. Looks like your chaos powers are devolving along with the rest of you."

Viktor knelt next to Sonic, whose gloves slipped off his hands as he stepped out of his now oversized shoes. "For years my predecessors had struggled to put an end to your constant attempts to bring down their empires to no avail. I succeeded where they failed in four days. Me, the defect! I'm better than Ivo, better than Eggman and most importantly better than you! And I just proved it!"

Sonic looked pained and confused. "Guh?"

"You probably didn't understand that," Viktor made a big circle motion. "WOOORLD…" he then pointed at himself. "MIIIIIINNNNE…" he then pointed at Sonic. "YOOOOOOOU…" he finished with a thumbs down. "LOOOSSE. I don't think I can dumb it down more than that without giving this body permanent brain damage."

Sonic turned and saw a female chipmunk that like him was the size of most mobini, they looked at each other recognizing something familiar but neither could place from where. In fact, he got that feeling from several other mobini in the hallway but something about the chipmunk was different, different and good.

Viktor turned to his robots. "Escort miss Kintobor back to her cell and have the E-series put in storage until we can rewrite his programming. As for all these creatures have them and their belongings collected and brought to the hot lab, I have an experiment I'll need every one of them for." Viktor bent over and picked up Sonic's signature footwear. "I can't think of a more fitting trophy, I might even have them bronzed."

Viktor chuckled to himself as the little animals were put into small cages.

* * *

Around Mobius, from Freedom City to Angel Island, from Mercia to Mystic Jungle and from Artika to Downunda every single Mobian on the planet they took their name from had been transformed into Mobini. The edifices of their civilization made no sense to them, their memories blurry and impossible to understand, but they went about their instincts to look for food, though for reasons no one could explain the ideas of possibly preying on former Mobians never occurred to them. Those left behind, humans, overlanders, robots and in one case a robian all had their hands full trying to keep the devolved populace from unwittingly hurting themselves all while Robotnick's weeklong ultimatum hung over their heads.

But outside a cottage some distance away from Freedom City other moves were being made.

"And that's the last one," Regina said as she closed the door on the cage that now kept a vixen mobini. "If you didn't say not to harm them, I'd hit her for biting me! Not to mention getting sprayed by the skunk, even after that removal spell I still feel like I need a bath!"

"Patience Ferrum," Specter said. "We require them for the Grand Design.

"I can't believe they're going to be our five elite since they've been reduced to dumb animals. How was Viktor devolving the mobians conducive to the Grand Design again?"

"It gives us a window of oppertunity. Robotnick's victory is not as complete as it appears. Once Witchcart has collected the item I sent her to acquire and you fetch Masters Mogul and Naugus all we need to do is wait until the seven days have almost expired, then the rite may be performed. Until then we'll make sure our future elites are well cared for while they are in their devolved state."

"And what if Viktor realizes we've been using him? Our wards won't fool him forever and I'd rather not harm my Snivley."

"They will not discover our true intentions until it is too late, provided we leave behind no evidence."

Specter conjured a fireball in his hand then turned from Regina and shot it in a stream at the cottage's roof. The flames started to quickly spread.

Regina looked impressed. "Lord Specter, I was under the impression you hid here for years. You're able to just burn it down just like that? No sentiments at all?"

"This place has served its purpose in the Grand Design, it is not needed anymore." Specter then turned and opened his palm. "Zone Gate." A portal appeared nearby as the archmagi levitated the cages holding Amy, Lucian, Geoffrey, Hershey and Fiona. "Come Master Ferrum, there are still preparations to be made."

The Ixis wizards left with the Mobini the portal closing behind them. Inside the cottage the fire continued to spread. On the mantle a photo of an older overlander smiling with a laughing Tenrec boy still stood as the flames came to claim it, the corner with the Overlander was the first touched by the fire, the balding man's kindly face was burned away.


	13. Mobini Mo Problems

Mobini, Mo Problems

The little blue hedgehog stirred from his sleep then began to groom his quills. Once his stomach grumbled, the blue hedgehog peeked out of his burrow and noticed it was another sunny day. He noticed everyone else was coming out of their burrows, nests or wherever else they'd made their home. There were three other hedgehogs like himself, a couple of rabbits, a pair of echidnas, a fox with two tails, a bat, a cat, a frog, a coyote, a miniature walrus, a lynx and a chipmunk. Of course, the little blue hedgehog didn't think of them as those sorts of animals, he didn't know those or any other words. But they could all tell they were friendly enough, even if the black and red one usually acted grumpy for some reason and there was something very different about the frog, and since they were roughly the same size and typically walked on all fours while being able to stand up and grab things with their forepaws they had more in common than not.

Soon two metal things came pushing a flat thing that floated above the ground, everyone could smell it before they saw it.

"Feeding time," said one of the robots that none of the Mobini understood. All they were interested in was what was on the cart. The robots began to take the small bowls off the cart and placed them on the ground nearby. As soon as a bowl was laid down one of the Mobini claimed it and began eating the pellets in them eagerly filling their bellies. After eating their fill instead of just taking the empty bowls and leaving the robots took out some round things from a square thing on the cart. The Mobini squeaked and yipped in delight as the robots threw the balls and they chased after them. To them nothing was better than a meal then some play, usually they just chased each other or tried to hide while someone went looking but this was something new and already there were lots of things to do with balls that just came to mind.

The little blue hedgehog squeaked happily, today looked to just as good as yesterday which was as good as the day before which… none of them could remember further than that, he started to wonder if they've always lived here. The sight of the chipmunk pushing the ball to him made his discomfort slip from his mind, he pushed back as the two started a game with no score or rules, just the joy of play.

* * *

Snively yawned as he looked on at the scene through the hidden camera, the data the sensors hidden in the balls were displaying on other monitors. He did admit it was impressive that Robotnick was able to set up this simulated environment so quickly but for the past week his job was to watch the now devolved intruders, compare their activities to regular Mobini and document any physiological abnormalities. The end goal was to be able to pacify organic batteries or the roboticized by having their minds interact with a virtual environment and giving them the illusion of that their bodies weren't being used for physical labor or to power a robotic shell.

So far it had been very dull, each day was pretty much the same; they'd wake up, eat and drink from the provided stream, frolic, frolic some more, take a nap, more frolicking, eat again, go to sleep and in the morning repeat and on top of everything else he had to look after the Chao they were keeping in a cage in his observation room. From what Snively could gather every other devolved Mobian did the same thing down on the surface with the addition of avoiding predators, and with human and overlander volunteers hastily making mobian towns into sanctuaries predators weren't an issue for most of them. It seemed they all shared the same infantile existence.

Snively decided to investigate the biodata the ball sensors were giving back then hopefully he could find out how to call Regina during his break. He read off the genetic data divided by species as it was compared to the original genomes Eggman had on file to check the alteration percentages. Hedgehog, rabbit, echidna…

Snively's eyes widened as he stumbled to hit the intercom. "Doctor Robotnick, you may want to come down to the hot lab and take a look at this!"

"Snively I'm about to remind the governments of the United Federation that they have less than twenty-four hours to surrender before they and their people become Australopithecus, while incorporating the new factories and bases the metal series and neo swats have taken over, all this while Phage is running a cyber-attack on the entire infonet. What could be so urgent that I come myself!?"

"I don't think Specter gave us his only gene bomb!"

"…Don't move a muscle until I get there!"

Fortunately for Snively Viktor was very prompt, he looked over the data Snively highlighted with black and red eyes. "Julie-Su, a member of the Chaotix and perennial thorn in Eggman's side who disappeared almost a year ago around the same time her half-sister Grandmaster Lien-Da did, only now she's in our hot lab running around in circles with her boyfriend as they mindlessly chase each other. What is she doing in there?"

"I checked the security footage of the Freedom Fighter raid last week. Knuckles brought her with him, only she was already devolved. Judging from her bio data it happened almost a month ago from her perspective, but the presence of particles indigenous to the Twilight Cage indicates it could have been as far back as four months in our time."

"During the Phantom Ruby War, before Regina contacted Eggman about the gene bomb derelict she claims she found. I knew they had an ulterior motive, but I let Specter go on his way because I didn't have proof it was to act against me. But if he hid one, he might be hiding another outside my control he can use against us."

Snivley was sweating and tugged at his collar. "You aren't planning on hurting Regina, are you? She was very afraid of Specter, if anything we should pull a rescue operation!"

"Where? We don't have the slightest clue as to where Specter and his cabal of sorcerous sycophants' base is! I want you to come up with a way to find them, they probably are using some sort of spell to mask the energies of the Chaos Emeralds so use our satellite network to look for any location we haven't taken over yet for a possible hideout."

"But that could take hours!"

"Then I suggest you get started. As much as I'd like to assign some robots to keep an eye on the petting zoo formerly known as the Freedom Fighters in your place I have them all either keeping this ship in the air or out taking over the world."

Snviely rubbed his chin. "Well, if they are devolved it should be safe for the new recruits to keep watch over the hot lab."

Viktor glared at Snively. "What new recruits?"

"Some of your predecessor's old subordinates came onboard after our victories. I gave them a metallix upgrade and said we'd find something for them to do." Snively used the intercom again. "You can come in now."

Viktor's eyes widened as four gleaming robots came in. "Super Special Sonic Search and Smash Squad plus Crabmeat reporting for duty!"

Viktor turned from the badnicks. "You gave Metallix to them?!"

"They begged me for their old jobs back, we were still shorthanded at the time! The Metallix should improve their abilities to your standards, right?"

Scratch turned his head to an intake on his back that was connected to an extra pair of wings. "Still hadn't figured out what this is foOOOOOOR!"

Scratch suddenly jetted around the room and crashed into the other badnicks taking them along for the ride all four screaming.

Viktor slapped his forehead. "Snively you idiot! Metallix only improves the hardware, it would take weeks to bring their software from useless to adequate or even mediocre!"

"AHHHH!" the S6 then slammed into a wall.

"Why did I think coming with you three was a good idea?" said Crabmeat.

"Well beggars can't be choosers." Viktor then turned to the badnicks. "Against my better judgement I am going to give you a simple task. In the next room are Sonic and his friends, who have been reduced to Mobini who are more simple-minded than you, barely. You are to keep an eye on them and report if they do anything strange; and just report I don't want them touched and if by some strange circumstance they are going to cause trouble you call for help and NOTHING ELSE! I want you to do a good job, but I won't hold my breath."

"You can count us boss!" said Coconuts. "We won't even blink!"

"Yeah," said Grounder. "We'll just pop in and…"

Viktor towered over them. "I don't want you leaving this room until Snively or I get back! No shenanigans, no harebrained schemes to curry my favor, just watch!" As they started to leave Viktor tapped his sleeve. "Raise the energy shield, that should protect me, Lilith and Snively from the gene bombs if we have to detonate again."

"But Regina's still down there!" yelled Snively.

"Something tells me the Order of Ixis have figured out their own form of protection. We'll have to take more permanent means than de-evolution to deal with them. Whether or not that applies to Regina is up to her and if it should it's up to you if you join her."

Snively gulped. _"I guess I better take my sweet time then."_

* * *

Ariel peaked around a corner and nodded to Athena who returned the gesture. At that moment they came out of the alley and swung their butterfly nets, a second later each had a Mobini mongoose wriggling in them.

"Mina, Ash, we're sorry that we had to do this," said Ariel. "But none of you should be out of the park."

"Duck!"

The two sisters did so as a stream of fire came from a tiny dragon that was tackled to the ground by a robot squirrel a little larger than the girls.

"Ok, I'm sorry I scared you Empress Dulcy!" Shortfuse said. "The professor needs you in the lab to take a blood sample!"

Athena took a cookie out of her pocket and gave it to the mini dragon who started munching away.

"Athena says that should keep her calm until you can bring her to the professor," said Ariel.

"How do you two do that?" said Shorty. "Never mind, let's just hope nobody escapes again today. Come by later and we'll let you know how this turns out."

The girls came to the improvised fence that was used to herd as much of the devolved population of Freedom City into New Spring Park as possible, most played, snacked or napped without a care in the world. Once they passed by the volunteers who were keeping the gate secure and dropped off the captured Mobini Ariel and Athena went over to four little wolves who were playfully growling while they had a game of tug of war with a couple of sticks.

"Mom, Dad, Maria, Marco…" Athena put a sympathetic hand on Ariel's shoulder. "You're right, they'd want us to keep going. The professor will find a way to change them back." She turned to the wolves again. "We'll be back soon, Ok?"

The wolves stopped their tug of war long enough to give a yip then went back to their game.

They took Shorty's advice and went to Chuck's lab, in addition to the usual equipment, old relics and a comfortable looking sitting area had been added. Mobini were coming in and out or were taking naps at several places throughout. "Hey prof I got your dragon blood!" Shorty said.

"Would you please place it in the centrifuge old chap?" said an older human with large eyebrows, wearing a brown suit and a bow tie. "According to a few tablets I got on my last trip to Vesuvio, the primordial fire that had a mystical influence of the dragons' origins might just give us a way to reverse the effects of the gene bombs."

Shorty place a test tube into a machine. "Does this mean you can change everyone back Professor Pickle!?" asked Ariel.

"Not yet," the professor sighed. "I've been spending most of my efforts this week on coming up with a defense against Robotnick's weapon. It will still take time to see if the analysis can find anything."

"Time is the one thing we don't have prof!" said fumed Shorty. "Robotnick said he'll use the bombs again in seven days if the Federation doesn't surrender, that was almost a week ago! If we can't fix this by tomorrow morning…"

"I'm afraid these things can't be rushed. But the assistance of you three has been invaluable in keeping as many of these poor people as safe as we can, since I sent my assistant to handle things on Angel Island, I've been shorthanded. To think I came to Freedom City expecting nothing more than to witness the accord signing followed by discussing the latest scientific discoveries with Professor Charles over tea and cucumber sandwiches."

"Speaking of which I have some ready for you professor," in came what looked like red furred mobian fox with violet eyes and long blonde hair pushing a tea cart.

The Professor took a saucer with a teacup before sitting in an easy chair. "Thank you, Fae. It's uncanny, no matter how many times I see you I keep forgetting you're an auto-automaton."

"It's ok professor, sometimes I forget too."

A nearby computer chimed as the president of the United Federation appeared on the screen. "Professor, have you made any discoveries about the Xorda attack on Earth that we can use in the current situation? We need some sort of answer, riots are already starting to break out!"

Dillion Pickle put down his tea and sighed. "Unfortunately, Mr. President all I can tell you is that the devices providing the shielding that protected the cities were worn down by time. Not only that from what little I can gather with the Infonet as unstable as it is because of that malevolent malware Phage Robotnick has already increased the size of his army to nearly where Eggman had it at the start of the Phantom Ruby War. Even if we could use the shields from the initial Hidden City project, he could still take each city by force, GUN won't be able to protect one without compromising the defense of another."

The president sank into his chair. "There must something, you are the world's foremost expert on both pre-Federation history and early Mobian civilization!"

"I'm afraid in this case that doesn't amount to much Mr. President. As loathe as I am to say it, we may have no choice but to surrender unless I can find a way to reverse the gene bombs' effects and time is running out."

"Do what you can," the president moaned. "The leadership of every Federation city-state is going to vote on the matter of surrender, but in a situation like this the vote has to be unanimous or… we'll just have to accept the same fate as the Mobians."

The image screen went blank, the overlander girls looked determined. "Well if that the way it's going be, we'd rather become like our mom, dad, brother and sister than give up," said Ariel.

"And I'd be scraped before I let this guy touch a hair of my friends' fur!" said Shortfuse.

"Tails made me more than just another one of Robotnick's weapons," said Fae. "I'm not going to waste the free will he gave me by joining Viktor's forces."

"The loyalty you all have is inspiring," said the professor. "But we're not walloped yet, we'll exhaust every option up until the last possible moment. But the girls and I can't do that on an empty stomach so let's enjoy these sandwiches while the cucumber is still crisp."

As the organics ate, there was a quiet whine. Fae looked down to see two fox Mobini, one red and one white, rubbing against her legs.

"I'm sorry, I know you can't understand me and probably have no idea why you're doing this, but I'm not your daughter. I wanted to meet her, apologize for how my creation made her life so hard and maybe even become friends. I hope we can find where she is so even if the worst happens you can still be a family."

* * *

Volcanoes erupted around the former prison that now served as the Temple of Ixis. In the central chamber the curved table and chairs were cleared away as a large nine-pointed star took the whole floor in front of the monstrous idol with a fire burning within the gaping mouth and hollow eyes. Specter watched as Mammoth and Naugus came forward.

"As you can see, we have returned without killing each other," said Mammoth. "Though the way he kept arguing with the wizards that make him up I nearly ripped him apart to keep them from arguing."

Naugus growled. "My lord, if you would be so kind as to provide me a remedy for this situation…"

"It can wait Master Naugus," said Specter. "We only need one thing before we can begin the ritual, Witchcart do you have it?"

The Crone came forward and presented a large grey ring with a green orb attached. "Stolen straight from Sonic's home, the former focus of Light Gaia, though it's power has been depleted."

"It will make a fitting vessel for the Essence of Earth, but that can wait until later." Specter floated the ring to the hand on the idol opposite of the crystal encased flaming eye. "Now the Grand Design demands we must perform the ritual. I have taught you the words, now it is time to invoke to power of the god Ixis to begin the Ixis Resurgence!"

The dark wizards each took a place at four of the nine points while Specter remained in the center and spread his hands before the idol.

"Great Ixis, we call upon you! Reshape nature as it is to a form of our need! By the Hidden Names we invoke your power!"

Mammoth stretched his arms towards the idol. "Chattur'gha." Red light filled the star at his feet.

Regina followed suit. "Ulyaoth." Blue light mixed with the red.

"Xel'lotath," said Witchcart as green light joined the other two.

"Mantorok," said Nagus. Purple completed the mix as the lights alternated.

"The first step is done," said Specter. "Bring them into the circle."

Each mage took a cage or two near them where inside each a Mobini was peacefully dreaming. After shaking each one awake, they emptied the cages onto the floor within the Nonagram. At first the Mobini; a tenrec, a fox, a skunk, a cat and a pink hedgehog; started to play, but a few moments later they stopped and yowled out in pain. Their bodies grew and their limbs reshaped themselves.

As this was happening the little pink hedgehog's head began to be filled with something familiar to it, words, memories, ideas. One word became clear, Amy, it was her name, she knew what a name was, then came other names. She clutched her head with her reacquired hands, what was once muddied beyond recognition was now clear as day. This was what she was born as, what was supposed to be, what all her friends were supposed to be, before it was all taken away.

Amy looked around, she saw that she and the others were restored to their Mobian forms, completely unclothed but that was nowhere near as concerning as the Ixis masters that surrounded them.

"Welcome back my apprentice," Naugus said with a smirk. "Tell me, did you, your wife and your new friends here all enjoy your vacation on a lower rung of the evolutionary ladder?"

Geoffery was still gazing at his hands. "I'm…me again. How…?"

"It is at Lord Specter's will that you have been restored," cackled Witchcart. "Now you may serve at his command."

"No, never again!" said Hershey as she turned to leave the circle. "I'll never…ARGH!"

The moment her hand crossed boundary it started to change back to a Mobini's paw. She pulled it back and it changed back to normal.

"I'm afraid that you can all only remain Mobian within the bounds of the Star of Ixis," said Mammoth. "And even this is temporary."

"Then why change us back at all?!" shouted Amy.

Specter spread his arms out to draw their attention. "Because with your power added to our own we can extend the spell to the rest of the world, it won't restore their bodies but it will give your friends on the Colossus just enough of their minds back to be able to truly undo what has been done. The alignment of the cosmos that permits us to do this will not occur again for several millennia and if left in your Mobini forms for too long then even if your physical bodies are restored your personalities would as if a creature that was a Mobini all its life suddenly became Mobian, nothing of the original 'you' would be left. This is your one chance to save your people and yourselves."

Geoffrey growled. "First you help Robotnick, now you're turning against him?"

"Viktor's role in the Grand Design has passed, leaving him in power now would only complicate things. It is as I told you, it was inevitable that you would join us to avoid dire consequences. I'd say the end of your species other than Mammoth and Naugus and the conquest of the world by a man obsessed with proving his supposed perfection qualifies as dire consequences."

"Only because you gave him the means to do it!" snarled Fiona. "You, you miserable conniving backstabber!"

"That's the pot calling the cauldron black," said Regina.

"I'm not doing anything until I know the truth!" yelled Lucian. "Is what Fiona said true?! Are you Master Charlemagne!? TELL ME!"

"Why tell, when I can show?" Specter pulled down the hood of his robe showing his mask was attached to another skintight hood. He reached up and grabbed the metal mask and after pulling it loose exposed the face of the former Overlord which had a smirk like that of the days of his rule.

Lucian fell to his knees. "It was all a lie, those years we spent together, I thought I knew what having a family was like…"

Fiona picked the Tenrec up. "Lucian, I thought the same thing. I made all the wrong choices and was given a chance to turn everything around. When I learned the truth at first I thought I was right before, that I couldn't count on anyone but myself, but I realized you encouraging me, my parents still loving me in spite of what I did, everyone deciding to give me yet another chance I never deserved, that wasn't a lie. I won't go back to who I was even if the man who allowed me to change for the better did so only so he could get his precious revenge!"

"Ah Fiona," Specter chuckled. "You have realized so much about me, yet you still understand so little. This was never about revenge."

"Then what was it about?!" yelled Amy. "Why are you doing this?!"

"Yes, you all need to know now to carry out your part in the Grand Design. Imagine if you will the leader of a people who craved resources, who sacrificed many soldiers to maintain their way of life, only to lose it all to some rodent they called a king. His people banished, his nation fracturing he fell into a deep depression and left those he had failed behind. Beaten and broken he wandered Mobius until a year later, just before Ivo Robotnick betrayed the Mobians as he betrayed the overlanders for the same desire for power, the former Overlord stumbled upon a tomb left from the Forgotten War, the tomb of an Ixis Witch. Within he found two things that would change his life forever, a Tome of Ixis and an iron mask. But little did he know the mask wasn't just a mere costume piece but a phylactery, a conduit that can allow a soul to inhabit the body of the one who touched it, and the moment he did Charlemagne became my vessel."

"Your vessel?" said Amy as she felt a shiver come up her spine. "What are you talking about?"

"Charlemagne is simply a host, "said Regina. "Lord Specter is an immortal spirit who inhabits the former Overlord's body."

"For twenty millennia I have wandered this planet," said Specter. "When I was sent to this world by the void god Ixis, the civilization of the 'old world' was still quite young. I have been priests, warriors, philosophers, explorers, merchants, scientists and rulers. As nations rose and fell, I worked to carry out my master's Grand Design, until the Xorda came and a new world arose from the old. But I saw what was coming and had already laid the groundwork for my revival, thousands of years later an Ixis Witch who had more curiosity about how her world came to be than any other Mobian of her day had discovered where I had slept and she became my first vessel of your kind."

"Yes, Morgana was always one of my favorites," said Mammoth. "The main reason I agreed to come out of retirement to work with Specter was because I gave Morgana, or rather Specter, my word that I'd support their ambitions. I thought when she died that I could never fulfill that obligation, but when he came with her mask and told me secrets only Morgana knew, well I keep my word even if it takes ten thousand years."

"When Morgana was laid to rest, I waited in the tomb until the day I knew another would come. With Charlemagne as my vessel I knew the vital moments of the Grand Design were fast approaching, the key players now existed so I began over the next twelve years to set your roles. But something unusual happened in my favor, to my host's surprise while training and raising you Lucian he came to care about you. In time he saw you as the son he never had, it made shaping you so much easier that I made use of the split image spell to let him handle the task while I worked elsewhere, reminding him that if he opposed the Grand Design I could keep him from seeing you."

Lucian suddenly formed a sharp icicle-like sword and thrusted its edge at Specter's neck. "Release him, now!"

Specter laughed. "Or what, you'll cut off his head? A little counterproductive isn't it?"

Lucian sighed. "If you leave Master Charlemagne, you can take me instead."

"Lucian don't!" Amy shouted. "We'll find another way!"

Specter touched the sword's tip with his finger, it melted away like an ice cube in the summer heat. "A noble, if futile sentiment, your place in the Design is not as my vessel. Besides since we've been bonded for years now if I leave Charlemagne for another living vessel he dies."

"But how did you know about any of us?" said Hershey. "The way you talk about us it's like you knew what was going to happen with not only the five of us but Sonic, Sally and everyone before any of us were ever born."

"Now Hershey, you don't expect me to tell you all of my secrets?"

"This could just be another lie!" shouted Fiona. "How can we be sure this spirit talk isn't just a way to mess us up?!"

"Perhaps this will convince you," Specter stumbled as a light seemed to pass from him to the mask in his hand. When he looked up Charlemagne looked ill and sorrowful. "Lucian, Fiona, all of you, I am so sorry. You deserve so much better, but…" suddenly Charlemagne seemed panicked. "You can't give him what he wants! This Grand Design cannot come to pass! He means to…!"

The light then shot back from the mask back to the man and the sneer returned. "That's enough out of you for now I think." Specter fit the mask back over his face and raised the hood of his robe again. "We've spent enough time discussing my past, the ritual requires all of us. I will give you the words, but you will need to tap further into Ixis Magik than you ever have before."

"Exactly what Merlin and Athair warned us not to do," said Amy. "Forget it, if the only other choice is to spend the rest of my life as a childish Mobini then that's what I choose."

"But do you have the right to choose that fate for every other Mobian? Would you all have your friends and family sacrifice everything they are because saving them requires you to do something morally uncomfortable? You'd rather just let your civilization end and hand over the planet to Robotnick than work with us? That sounds rather… selfish of you."

Lucian snarled. "That's what this was all about, wasn't it? The gene bombs, helping Viktor carry out this…genocide, staging events so the five of us would come together, it was all to force us into a situation where we'd have no choice but to let this Ixis thing corrupt us."

"Only those who are too afraid or foolish would call it corruption, Ixis merely opens the eyes of those he desires to the truth. Now it is your choice, join us in the ritual or condemn mobiankind to potential extinction. But I already know through the Grand Design what your choice is going to be, so you never had any choice at all."

Fiona moved to one of the five open points of the star. "If it was just me, I might have even accepted devolving as what I deserved at one point in time, but that part of me knows that this isn't about what I want or deserve but what I owe. Mom, Dad, Tails, Aunt Rosemary, Uncle Amadeus, Mighty, if I can help them or anyone else, I must do it. So, I'll walk into the darkness again for their sakes."

Geoffrey took another point of the star. "I'm no stranger to that road paved with good intentions, I laid my share of the bricks myself. Few questioned my motives, but many questioned my methods, I just told myself it was for the good of the kingdom. Now it's not just the good of kingdom but the good of everyone. What I'll do after this will make me even more hated by the people I fought for, but at least they'll be able to hate me."

Hershey took another point. "You won't have to do it alone this time, I'll walk that road with you. I spent a good deal of my life thinking 'I wish I never did that' or 'if only I was stronger', but no matter what happens I won't regret this if it saves everyone. But with the man I love with me, and the rest of you who choose this, I know I can be strong enough."

Amy took another point. "I have to save my friends, everything the Freedom Fighters worked for can't end like this." Amy then had a steely gaze. "But that doesn't mean I'm turning my back on what being a Freedom Fighter means! I'll do this ritual but I'm also going to resist Ixis with everything I have! I'm not giving up on who I am, and neither should any of you!"

Fiona, Geoffrey and Hershey nodded at Amy with a look of resolve.

Lucian took the last point of the star. "I'm with you, I'll save everyone and stay true to myself. This power has been a part of who I am for most of my life and I'll use it to make my friends and my master proud."

"Even after everything you're still are eager to please me," Specter said amusingly.

Lucian huffed. "Don't flatter yourself, you might have given Charlemagne the knowledge, but it was his patience and encouragement that burned that knowledge so much more into my mind and that's why HE will always be my master. You Specter, you're just a parasite who exploits others for his own gain and one way or another I swear one day you'll pay for making him and so many others your puppets."

"You may think that for now, so long as you join us in the ritual. Now accept the words of power and use them to expand the minds of the ones we need."

The nine Ixis wizards focused on chanting, the words flowing into the minds of Amy and the others as they joined in.

"Bankorok, magomor, tier, santak, narokath, redgormor, nethlek, aretak, antorbok, pargon…"

* * *

The little blue hedgehog squeaked cheerfully as everyone just came together for one big game. He eagerly readied himself to hit the ball back to his friends.

Suddenly his head hurt a lot, it started filling with things he didn't understand. Something was clear however, he remembered being scared in a cage with his friends. There was a man who put them in there and then they were put in this place, but it didn't seem like he did it to be nice. There were other things that were his head now, but one thing really stuck out.

Sonic. Sonic was a word, a name, his name. He looked at the others and more names came to his head. Many had another word he connected to them, friends. He felt something bad would happen to all of them if he didn't do something. Sonic tried to use this mouth to make the words, but it was built all wrong and he could just squeak and whine. Still it was better than nothing.

"_Friends hear, big trouble, bad man, we run," _he thought to himself as he tried to communicate.

The others just stared blankly at him. Why didn't these words sound like noises he could make? Still he tried again. The chipmunk, whose name he now remembered was Sally, came up to him. Sonic felt excited that someone understood him.

Sally opened her mouth, let a few leftover pellets from breakfast drop out of her cheek pouches and into her paws then offered them to Sonic.

Sonic growled then knocked the pellets to the ground. _"Not Hungry! Big trouble!"_

Sally started tearing up then a second later the little chipmunk bawling while everyone stared at Sonic and growled.

"_Not cry! I sorry! I sorry!"_

Sonic picked up the pellets and began chewing them. Something was strange about them now. They tasted the same as they did that morning, but now he was trying his best to hide that he couldn't stand them anymore. As he wondered why this happened, food was just food after all, there was the faint memory of something hot and messy he wanted, but like most things it wasn't clear.

After Sonic reluctantly swallowed the pellets, he was glad to see Sally had stopped crying. But while the tears were gone there was something suddenly different about her eyes, like there was something a little deeper behind them that shined. Confused she picked up a pellet Sonic missed and put it in her mouth only to spit it back out looking disgusted. She then looked into Sonic's eyes and started squeaking.

"_Sally you know!" _

As the others started come closer to the two, they each began getting the same look in each of their eyes. Then they all started yipping, squeaking and squealing. Sonic joined in feeling more confident.

"_Big trouble, bad man, we fight!"_

The confidence however quickly ebbed as he came to yet another realization, he couldn't understand his friends and they couldn't understand him. One look at Sally he knew she realized first thing they had to do was figure out how they can communicate when none of them could speak the language their ideas were now coming in.

* * *

In the observation room Crabmeat and Coconuts were pushing each other out of the way of their view of the monitor.

"What are they up to?" asked Crabmeat.

"Making noises at each other," said Scratch as he leaned back in a chair and put his feet on the console. "It's one of the stupid things Mobini do when we're not locking them in containment units to use for whatever scheme we had that week."

"I don't know," said Coconuts. "I'm calling the doc anyway."

"But we're only supposed to call if they're doing something strange," said Grounder. "He'll be mad if we call and it turns out to be nothing."

"Relax," said Scratch. "The new doc's given us the cushiest job we ever had. We even got sweet upgrades to do basically nothing but goof off. And the best part we can now beat Sonic or any of those other pains in the processor easy now that they're shrimps."

"I guess you have a point," said Coconuts. "I mean it's not like they do much now they each have a brain the size of a deshelled peanut."

"Well I'm following the doctor's orders!" said Crabmeat. "Nothing is going to me distract me from keeping watch on the Freedom Fighters!"

None of the badnicks noticed that just behind them Cheese the Chao had seen in the Mobini Cream the something like the girl he knew. He fiddled with the simple lock and flew out of cage and into the hallway beyond.

"Chaoooooooooo!"

Crabmeat leapt down and opened his claw to a small missile ready to fire. "We got to catch it!"

"But the doc said not to leave the room," said Grounder. "And we're supposed to tell him if the Freedom Fighters do anything, not a Chao."

Crabmeat closed his claw sadly. "But my new net rocket…"

"It's just one Chao in a giant battleship," said Scratch. "Nothing to worry over."

Coconuts laughed. "Yeah what's it gonna do, cute us to death?"

* * *

Cheese flew through the corridors, he had just a general idea about where to go but knew there was someone who could help. After seeing arrows on the walls with a cage he decided to follow them and they brought him to where he wanted.

Hope came up to the cell door. "Your Cream's chao Cheese, right? Am I glad to see you! Listen I think I can get everyone back to normal, but I need to get out of here first ok?"

"Chao, chao!"

"I'll take that as a yes. Thankfully those robots didn't think to search my pockets." Hope took her stolen keycard out and slid it under the door "Just put the card through the reader next to the door."

Cheese flew up and after swiping the card the door opened.

"Thanks Cheese, alright first we have to get Omega up and running again, I saw them take him into a nearby lab when they brought me back here and I worked on him enough times to know that even shut down he took steps to keep himself from having his program altered electronically. With Phage out terrorizing the infonet we should be able to use the virus in the drive Nicole gave me to disable the gene bomb network, after we use them to get every Mobini who used to be Mobian back to normal. I just pray that whatever experiment Viktor planned hasn't hurt Shadow and the others."

"Chao! Chao, chao, chao!"

Hope sighed. "I really wish I could understand Chaoese, but your attitude is enough to say that they're ok for now. In that case let's get to work!"

* * *

Back in Mobini habitat Sonic and the others managed to work out a means of communication by using body language along with their limited vocal range. Their instincts working with their expanded thoughts made them feel like someone was watching them, so they went into a thicket of bushes to come up with a plan.

"Big trouble, what do?" barked Antoine.

"Get out, stop bad man," said Sonic.

"But he big, he smart," whimpered Cream. "We not big, we not smart."

"We many, he not," squeaked Sally. "Together we win."

"You right," Nicole meowed. "Find door, we be free."

The squeaks and squeals of "Free!" was soon echoed in the group. They then moved out and to the very edge of their world and found the big metal door they were originally brought through.

"What do?" asked Rouge.

Knuckles growled. "We hit door, hit hard!"

"That… smart!" Julie yipped as the others enthusiastically nodded in agreement.

The Mobini charged the door scratching, biting and tackling with all the energy they had. A couple of minutes later they were sprawled on the ground short on breath and with a few bruises.

"Owie," yowled Big.

"Not work," said Bunnie. "What do?"

Shadow looked around and found small vent nearby. "Not strong door! Hit that!"

The Mobini had gained a second wind as they attacked the vent but did little more than dent it.

"Wait," yipped Tails as he felt something working in his head. Went to a loosened screw in the vent's corner and began to turn it one way with his forepaws then then other once it began to get hard, now it was getting easy. Rotor came up next to him and the miniature walrus began to do the same with the other screw.

Once both screws were completely removed the vent cover fell over to expose the way to the airduct. All the Mobini, including Tails and Rotor, gasped at what considered an act of magic.

"In there!" said Sonic. "Then we free!"

* * *

In observation the S6 had been watching everything, Scratch and Grounder insisted they'd never be able to get past the door. But once they started to attack the vent cover Coconuts moved to the intercom.

"That's it, I'm calling the doc and telling him we got an escape attempt on our hands!"

The cyber simian was about to press the button when it was blown apart by an energy beam.

Omega was standing in the door, the barrel of his forearm blaster smoking. "Enemy reinforcements denied, proceeding to eliminate Robotnick forces."

"Taste my Metallix fury!" yelled Crabmeat as he fired a rocket from his claw.

The rocket opened to deploy a steel net that covered Omega, who simply pulled it off then tucked his blaster back into his arm. "Enemy threat level measured as minimal, conserving power for actual threats."

Crabmeat closed his claw sullenly. "You didn't have to hurt my feelings!"

Omega then spread out his claw like fingers. "Switching to melee combat."

"Looks like he's going to hurt more than our feelings," said Grounder.

"Not in the face!" Scratch screamed as Omega charged.

As the E-series started to tear into the S6 Cheese and Hope entered the observation room. "Great they're already logged into the system." Hope went to the terminal and handed her drive to Cheese as she began going through the system. "Hold onto this for now. I can drop the shields from here, just need to find the gene bomb control system and change it from devolving humans and overlanders to evolving transformed Mobini back into Mobians. Once our friends start getting back to normal insert the drive into the slot here and the virus should prevent Viktor from making more gene bombs without having to scrap his entire Ascendancy and going back to square one."

"Chao!" Cheese nodded.

Hope opened a program that filled up the screen, the sounds of Omega and the S6's fight continuing behind her. "Let's see… ah-ha the genetic templates from the last detonation are still in memory. First things first changing them back to before the last use, everyone's going to keep this enhanced echidna soultouch for now. If we have time, I might do a more precise edit to get them completely back to the way they were…" Hope stopped and gasped at a realization. "…and I can use this to fix the flaw that makes overlanders prone to aggression, we wouldn't have to keep fighting our instincts to live in peace with Mobians. Not only that this could improve everyone; enhanced strength and intelligence, improved immune systems, immunity to aging; we could do a lot of good with this technology too!"

"Now you see its full potential."

Hope turned around to see Viktor, Lilith and Snively standing in the doorway with several neo swats behind them. Hope turned to finish her task only to hear blasters charging. Omega quickly moved next to her, the S6 joined the neo swats and the two sides were now in a standoff.

"I imagine this was how the Xorda expanded their empire," said Viktor. "They were able to reshape entire ecosystems to be more beneficial to agriculture, mining, terraforming or whatever they needed. This is going to be the carrot to my stick, with hours left I will offer the benefits of gene bombs as well as remind them of the consequences of defiance. In the most likely scenario I won't even need to use them, enough humans and overlanders will seek the benefits of genetic and cybernetic improvements to split the population, chaos will ensue as the United Federation falls into civil war and the Robotnick Ascendancy will be there to pick up the pieces." Viktor's eyes became black. "The world will be ours alone!"

"It's not too late 'little sister'," Lilith said to Hope. "You can still join us, have a perfected body like mine and Viktor's, be free of the raging tempest that has cursed the overlanders to war and short-sighted self-destruction like you've always wished for."

Cheese flew into Hope's face "Chao, chao! Chao, chao, chao!"

"The chao is correct," said Omega. "They are merely trying to compromise your mission. Ignore them and finish reprogramming the gene bombs."

Hope looked at her hands as she started taking a few calming breaths. "The gene bombs can be a tool for good if they're used responsibly… but given the history of Mobius, it's a responsibility we're not ready for yet. Sorry Viktor but the only thing the gene bombs will be used for now is to undo the damage they've already done!"

"I don't think so you little brat," Snively sneered. "Even with that traitorous tin can acting as cover our neo swats can destroy that terminal before you can finish reprogramming the bombs. I suspect you came up with a way to keep us from using them again and you might even have enough time to carry it out, but only if you're willing to let all your little friends remain dumb animals forever."

"It's my greatest advantage over my predecessors, I plan ahead," said Viktor. "Even if I lose, I gain something from the effort. There's no move you can make, no unforeseen circumstance that can…"

Suddenly a banging noise came from the vents above.

"Oh yeah we forgot to tell you," said Grounder. "The Freedom Fighters were escaping."

Suddenly the vents opened as several Mobini fell on the unsuspecting villains.

"Vision obscured," said a Neo Swat who was firing blindly as its visor was covered by Silver. "Unable to target."

"Get them off me!" Lilith screamed as Sally, Tails, Shard and Knuckles clung to her while Rouge swooped around her head.

Viktor felt a sharp pain on his hand then lifted it to see a little blue hedgehog biting him. "You!"

Sonic blew him a raspberry before jumping to avoid being grabbed. "Snively keep her from activating the gene bombs!" Snively however was curled up on the floor laughing himself to tears. "What's so funny?!"

"Hahaha! A couple of them crawled into my jacket! Hahaha! They…Hahaha…found where I'm ticklish! HAHAHA!"

"If you want something done right…" Viktor found Omega was busy tearing his neo swats apart and took the chance to make a move towards Hope.

"Reprograming complete, detonating…AH!" Hope was pulled away as robotnick held her in a wristlock.

"You had your chance," growled Viktor. "Now your lack of logic is going to cost you dearly!"

Sonic and Shadow growled from the control panel.

"Don't worry about me!" yelled Hope. "The sequence is already complete, just push flashing button to change everyone back!" The two looked confused. "Shadow, Sonic?" She then noticed something was different about their eyes, a certain dull stare. "No, Omega, Cheese!"

"Too many opponents to disengage," said Omega. "Accelerating attack."

Cheese tried to fly to the button, suddenly Lilith grabbed him out of the air. "You're not going anywhere you little pest!"

Hope struggled to break free. "Rouge, Sally, Tails, Nicole, anyone!"

The mobini's attacks went from simple but clever to feral biting and clawing, they all had the same dull look in their eyes.

"No."

"Face it," Viktor said with a cruel laugh. "You've lost, Hope."

* * *

Back in the Temple of Ixis the ritual was starting to take its toll on the wizards, even Mammoth and Naugus were struggling to stay on their feet. Amy put everything she had into it.

"Gotha, kadishtu, n'ghft…"

Her concentration started to wane. Suddenly she felt a pain in hand and looked to see it begin to resemble the paw she had for the past week.

"No, not now!"

"Focus on the ritual!" said Specter. "The time of the alignment is nearly expired!"

"They're not strong enough!" yelled Regina. "We can't hold it much longer!"

"_No!"_ Amy thought. _"Someone, anyone, please help!"_

Suddenly it seemed as if the whole room was plunged into darkness illuminated only by Star of Ixis and the idol's fiery opening. Strangely the light only shown Amy, Lucian, Geoffrey, Hershey and Fiona. The pain Amy felt dulled and he mind was clearer. The light of the idol seemed to get bigger and bigger until the mouth snuffed itself out leaving only the five eyes that now loomed over them.

"Someone, anyone?" said a guttural alien voice. "I'm someone, I could help you."

"What in the name of the Source?" asked Fiona.

Geoffrey was shaking "It has to be…Ixis."

"You need power," said Ixis. "You seek power, I can let you use mine."

"Where's Witchcart and the Order?!" asked Hershey. What's happening?!"

"You're in the space between heartbeats, once you return, you'll change back into the mindless beasts you were before. You and all your kind will remain that way forever, but with my power that fate will change."

"Don't listen to him!" said Amy. "We can still do this together!"

"You lie to yourself; you know you no longer have the strength. All you need to do is to open the way."

A purple flame ignited where Specter was standing before the darkness, a strange light glowed at its heart.

"No," said Lucian. "This was what master was warning us about, we can't open the door for him into our world!"

"Fools," Ixis laughed. "The five of you alone do not have the power to free me from this realm. No, open the way for me, into your souls."

"We…" Fiona sighed. "We have no choice." Fiona walked towards the flame. "I'll let him into me, to save my family."

"No, I'll do it!" yelled Geoffrey. "I'm already considered a villain; I have nothing left! You had just been given forgiveness don't throw it away!"

"Stop both of you!" yelled Hershey. "There has to be another way!"

Fiona and Geoffrey reached into the flame; they could only reach into it a small distance before it forced them out.

"No," said Ixis. "All, or none."

"What does that mean?" asked Lucian.

"Geoffrey looked at his hand, no signs of a burn were on it. "He won't take us, not unless all five of us do so willingly."

"Then I refuse!" said Amy. "Nobody is sacrificing themselves!"

"But if we don't," said Fiona. "Our friends…"

"For better or for worse," said Hershey as she came up to Geoffrey. "We were together for better, now it's time for worse."

The three put their hands back into the fire, with Hershey they were able to go in deeper but still not able to reach the alien light.

"Stop it!" shouted Amy. "If we do this who knows what will happen to us!"

"What will happen," said Ixis. "Is that your eyes will be opened. You will see the destiny you were all meant to fulfill, a destiny friends and loved ones had sacrificed themselves for you to achieve. Will you let those sacrifices be in vain? Their deaths allowed you to live, will you give up the lives they died for, do their deaths mean nothing?"

Suddenly those who had hands in the flame looked as if they were seeing something other than what was around them.

"T-tommy?" said Fiona. "You saved the Freedom Fighters and I turned around spat in their faces. No, I can't let them be gone after you saved them!"

"Father?" said Geoffrey. "I understand, you thought I would take care of things back home. I will father, I'll make you and mother proud."

"Mommy?" said Hershey. "You left so I would grow up happy and healthy, the children of this world, they deserve the same and I'll give it to them."

"Guys!" shouted Lucian. "What are you…?" Suddenly it seemed as if he was looking somewhere else. "Mom, Dad? Amy I was on that boat too. They saw the mine, couldn't miss it because we were hung on a reef. They only had a basket, sent me back to the island in it. They stayed in the boat so the mine wouldn't hurt anyone on the island…"

Lucian put his hand into the flame, they were all less than an inch from the light.

"Lucian!" Amy shouted to try to pull him away. "Don't believe…"

Suddenly she saw it clear as day. A fair maiden pink hedgehog, a princess of Mercia, sister to the king and her husband a dashing hedgehog knight.Then the product of their love, a pink baby girl, it was her. Not long after their home was attacked by the Sheriff, Antione's brainwashed roboticized father, the knight stood his ground but was cut down. The lady fled with their baby only to be shot, using the last of her strength to get their daughter to safety. Even though she knew the source of this vision she couldn't deny what she was seeing was true, her parents died so she could live. There was a growing sense within her, if her friends, if every Mobian lost who they were while she just stood aside and joined them, then her parents died for nothing.

"No, MAMA, PAPA!"

Amy plunged her hand into the flame and with the others accepted the light within.

* * *

The fuzzy feeling in the little blue hedgehog's head started to clear again. Once more the words and ideas were coming back. The others seemed to be in the same position as they fell to the floor and Snivley tossed Big and Froggy out of his jacket.

"Push the button!" Hope shouted.

"_Push, button."_ Sonic thought. Then the meaning of both words came to him, he knew he could push a button. Looking he saw one that was flashing without hesitating jumped on it.

There was a brief sensation of a shockwave then Sonic felt himself wracked with pain, but at the same time he felt more ideas, more memories coming back to him.

"WHAT!?" Viktor stared on dumbfounded.

Sonic was still growing but he looked the scientist square in the eye.

"Hey…Mister Perfect…I'm back…"

"Not for long, I just need the replacement bombs to get into orbit and…ARGH!"

Hope stepped on Viktor's toes and made a break for the console. Cheese slipped from Lilith's grasp and threw the drive he was holding to Hope who in one movement caught and jammed into an open port. The gene bomb schematics on display were then wiped away.

"Dr. Robotnick!" Phage called. "Our asteroid factories have self-destructed, and the hot lab's systems are being wiped! I just managed to isolate the rest of the Colossus but only by erasing all gene bomb data not in the hot lab systems!"

"What's happening!?" asked Lilith.

Sally got up, noticeably larger than she was before. "Your plan…failed…Viktor…"

Robotnick started stepping back. "Failed?! How?! I calculated every variable, planned for every contingency! A perfect being like me…"

Hope stood next to the others as they began to get their old bodies back. "News flash! No one's perfect, least of all you!"

Omega fell back with the others. "Numerical superiority has been acquired, preparing full counterattack."

"I think that means we have to go!" Snively said as the S6 were already on their way out the door.

Lilith pulled Viktor's arm and led him out of the room as a heavy shutter came down after them.

"Get back here!" Sonic ran but wasn't quite able to reach the shutter. "Guess I'm not back to one hundred percent yet."

Shadow was only able to make a small spark in in his hand. "My Chaos Powers haven't been fully restored yet either."

They heard Bunnie groan and turned to see her limbs becoming metallic. "Well, I'd be fine either way now, but I need my cybernetics to survive."

"Oui, mine as well," Antione added.

"Same with my back," said Rotor.

Tails was muttering as he started to stand. "The square of the hypotenuse is the sum of the square of the other two sides, the melting point of aluminum is six-hundred sixty point three two degrees Celsius, The four principles of flight are lift, weight, thrust and drag, I never realized how much I love being smart!"

"Wait," Knuckles looked around. "Julie!"

"Knuckles!?" the pink echidna with a metal arm and quill came forward.

"JULIE!" The two hugged each other tightly, they were so overcome with emotion that their pride was completely forgotten as tears of joy flowed freely. "Julie, there were days I thought I'd never see you again."

"Knuckles, I…I've been through so much I…"

"I saw Shade's journal, I know. And if you still want a wedding, I'll give you biggest wedding Angel Island has ever seen!"

Julie blushed. "Uh, I don't know about a big one but yes I will marry you."

"Froggy!" Big picked up the natural born Mobini who croaked with a smile.

"Good feels all around," said Silver. "But now have to get out of here."

Suddenly a sinister laughter came from the PA system. "Oh, I wouldn't count on any of you leaving!"

Sonic sighed. "And Mr. Perfect has finally cracked."

"On the contrary, I just realized what my predecessors had wrong about you Sonic. They treated you like an obstacle to be removed or prize to be won, but what you are is a whetstone, a means for me to improve myself and with the ability to move my consciousness to a new body I will just keep improving. Every setback will just make me sharper, eventually I'll wear you down. I am the curse of you and your insufferable friends, you'll never be rid of me, the peace you crave for so badly will forever be beyond your reach!"

"Just wait until I'm back to full power," growled Shadow. "You'll wish I just threw you into the deepest darkest hole I can find."

"Oh really? Do you want to know why I call that room and the habitat you were frolicking in the hot lab? Because they're designed so that if things get hot, if there is chance for quarantine to be broken, I can just do…THIS!"

Suddenly everyone was flung up toward the ceiling.

"What's he doing to us?!" yelled Cream.

"It's not us, it's this lab!" answered Tails. "He's jettisoned it from The Colossus, it's in free fall!"

"Calculating from previous recorded altitude and gravitational constant," said Omega. "Impact in three minutes, at this velocity we will not be able to survive."

"What options do we have?!" asked Sally.

Omega made some electronic noises. "Error, negative return value."

Sonic growled. "I think that means our options are limited to 'go splat when we crash'!"

* * *

Viktor looked through a viewport as the hot lab vanished into the clouds below. "This war may go on, but we still have a proper army and we're in a stronger position than when we started. More importantly I've gotten rid of the Freedom Fighters once and for all."

"And that is how the two of us surpassed our creators," Lilith said looking satisfied. "We plan so that even when we lose, we win."

"So, does that mean we get to test our upgrades on some other chumps you want to take over?" asked Coconuts.

Viktor sneered. "No, this means you four are going to be reassigned to janitorial duty for managing to bungle watching a bunch of brainless woodland critters!" He turned to Snively. "And don't think I've forgot you were the one who signed them on! If I didn't need you to find the Order of Ixis you'd be scrubbing floors right next to…!"

There was a sudden explosion outside and a red and gold blur that zoomed past the viewport.

"Doctor," Phage said over the intercom. "The Sky Patrol blasted it's way out of the hangar all on its own! It's out of weapons range and jetting towards the hot lab!"

"But how?!" quaked Snively.

Viktor simply clenched his fist, his black and red eyes on the aircraft as it passed the cloud layer. "I, HATE, THAT, HEDGEHOOOOOOOOOOOOG!"

* * *

The occupants of the Hot Lab suddenly felt a quick succession of sudden jolts then a gradual deceleration before falling to the floor suddenly, but at a survivable speed.

"Somethin' caught us," said Bunnie. "Question is what?"

Just then the image of an unclothed pre-school aged Lynx girl appeared on a monitor. "Daddy!"

"Nikki!?" Rotor said moving to the terminal. "How long have we been…?"

"Initial gene bomb detonation seven days ago," said Omega.

"Something scary happened to Mommy, so I went looking for you!" Nikki said from the computer. "I looked for a long time, learned lots, caught the falling box with the airship and now I found you!"

"You went out onto the infonet alone and took over the Sky Patrol's systems?!" Rotor scolded. "Nikki that was very, very dangerous!" the walrus then sighed. "But I'm glad you came and saved us."

"Nikki, can you do the grown-ups a favor and call Uncle Chuck's lab for us?" asked Sally. "Then find a safe place to set us down and land then we'll fly the Sky Patrol home."

"Ok Aunt Sally, gimme a bit!"

As the screen went to the desktop Nicole sighed. "Nikki, you're going to be a real girl someday."

"Nicole…" Shard said taking her hand.

"But after spending a week capable of only the most rudimentary thoughts, I think I can live with this."

Shard smiled. "Well if you can, then I will too."

The screen then shown an image of Professor Pickle. "Sonic, I should have guessed you were responsible for this. Every Mobini we were observing began evolving back to their old selves and I've confirmed with my assistant and the United Federation that this is happening all over the globe, thanks to you."

"It was a team effort," said Sonic. "All I did was push a button."

"Well regardless everyone is now back to normal."

"Not completely normal," said Hope. "I had to use the most recent Mobian gene sequence in the database, now every Mobian is carrying a stronger version of the echidna soultouch, permanently this time."

"So that's why I didn't care if anyone saw us being mushy," said Julie-Su. "Knuckles…"

"I could tell the difference," Knuckles said. "But right then I just chose NOT to restrain myself."

"And quite frankly neither is any other Mobian," said Professor Pickle. "They're all hugging, dancing and cheering out in the streets in nothing but their birthday suits."

"Everyone?" asked Tails. "Then that means…" The fox quickly closed his eyes and slapped his hand over them. Soon, Sonic, Sally, Antione, Bunnie, Rotor, Cream and Silver followed suit. Big simply picked up and looked at his amphibian pal.

"What's wrong?" asked Hope.

"Rouge doesn't have any fur!" said Sonic.

"I thought you guys didn't worry that much about being naked."

"Usually," said Sally. "But Mobians just don't tend to think the all bare skin look is very attractive. And no offense Hope but because you don't have fur, feathers, scales or at least body hair it means to us overlanders and humans do not carry the naked look well at all, especially since you carry your genitalia on the outside!"

"Well mine's still on the inside," said Rouge. "And if you weren't so busy being prudish you could tell there's nothing to see here."

The group opened their eyes and saw Rouge was covered in silky white fur which was a bit thicker around her chest. In fact, the only bare spot was a patch around her belly button that was strangely shaped like a heart.

"This is what happens when I'm not able to wax for a whole week, makes slipping past certain places a bit easier."

"Sounds to me like a frivolous hassle and a big waste of time for such meager gains," said Shadow as he began to pass her. "Besides, I think this a very good look for you." He whispered.

Rouge stroked Shadow's back. "Well, I guess this means I'm done waxing for good."

"Rouge!" Shadow growled before lowering himself back down to a whisper. "Not in public, I still have a reputation to keep."

"Have it your way tough guy."

"Sally, I think the Republic should hold onto this," Hope passed the drive she used to upload the virus to the princess. "Before I wiped them from the Viktor's network, I copied the gene bomb plans onto here. Robotnick and the Xorda might have done terrible things with them but while I was setting the gene bombs, I realized they could also do a lot of good if used responsibly. I don't think either of our peoples are ready for them yet but keep these safe until our grasp can catch up to our reach."

Sally looked at the drive. "Don't worry, these will be locked away until we have the wisdom this knowledge needs."

"I have found our belongings," said Antione. "Sonic, I believe Zhese are yours."

The coyote tossed Sonic a familiar pair of sneakers. "My kicks, sweet!" the hero said as he caught them. "NOW everything's back to normal, how about we celebrate with chili dogs once we get back on the Sky Patrol?"

"You know I think I will take you up on that for once," said Antione before turning green. "Anything would be better than zhose disgusting pellets we stuffed our faces with when we were imbeciles!"

"All's well that ends well," laughed Tails. "Boy Amy is probably going to be so jealous that she missed out on this."

Silver sighed. {Gold, Blaze, can you hear me?}

{Yes, the mental link's back,} said Blaze. {It's good to be my old self again.}

{I'm here too,} said Gold. {But since we've all been restored you know what this means.}

{That it's already happened,} Blaze answered. {We're one step closer to preserving our existence, but because of it the worst days for the Freedom Fighters are just ahead, days that could shatter the bonds of their friendship forever.}

{And on top of everything else our Interloper was a total no-show,} thought Silver. {Sonic could still be killed at any moment during all of this, we'll have to be more vigilant than ever. We will save Sonic, even if right now we can't save the five of them.}

* * *

In the Temple of Ixis the entire order had fallen to their knees except for Specter. "Did it work?" asked Mammoth. "Was Mobius returned to normal?"

"Wait," Naugus flexed his left hand as if expecting something. "My pact with Geoffrey has been broken!"

"My pact with Hershey is gone too!" yelled Witchcart. "What is the meaning of this?!"

"Simple," said Specter. "One cannot serve two masters and your apprentices have answered a higher calling."

The five prisoners stood up and began moving toward Specter.

"Now I understand," said Lucian. "His power, his glory, the truth of this world…"

"…This war we thought was so important," added Geoffrey. "We were really infants, throwing tantrums over something we should have outgrown long ago…"

"…we lied to ourselves for generations," said Fiona. "Blind to what our true purpose was, what we were created for…"

"…we have to spread the message," said Hershey. "Let creation know, free them all from lies of the usurpers…"

Amy knelt before Specter as the others did shortly a second later. "…we will save our friends, our families and our people. To this end we pledge to Ixis our minds, our hearts, our very souls…"

The five then spoke as one. "…forever."

Specter waved his hand over them, an energy covered them only for an instant later to change into a set what looked like leather clothing. "Rise the Five Elite of the Order, rise the Harbingers of Ixis..."

Hershey stood, her clothes red with a belt buckle showing an upward pointing triangle.

"…Herald of Fire…"

Geoffrey followed; his clothes were green with a triangle like Hershey's but with a line crossing it at the top.

"…Herald of Air…"

Fiona was yellow with a downward pointing triangle with a line crossing at the bottom.

"…Herald of Earth…"

Lucian was blue with an unadorned downward triangle.

"…Herald of Water…"

Amy finally stood, outfit purple and with a pentagram at the belt.

"…Herald of Chaos…"

"What is your command Lord Specter?" Amy asked as they came to their feet. "What is the will of Ixis?"

"The Ixis Resurgence is to begin immediately, spread the truth as it has been given to you, gather those who will follow but do not return to Freedom City until I command. Do not be dismayed if those you care for will not listen for the when the Elemental War begins, they and all Mobians will embrace that they are the children of Ixis and will spread out onto the cosmos to reclaim his dominion. Then the usurpers, those so-called Chaos Titans, will pay for their insolence and Ixis will rule the universe for all eternity!"

The five elite were engulfed by flame, wind, stone, water, and energy then flew out of the temple. Outside fire plumed forth into the sky, the wind howled, waves crashed, and earth shook. Deep within the Chaos Force the malevolent entity known as Ixis laughed as his Grand Design moved ever closer to his freedom and the end of the rule of mortals.


	14. The Witch Queen

Chapter 13

The Witch Queen

Sonic left himself slide back on the catwalk. After coming to a stop, he looked up and saw Neo Metal Sonic returning the glare.

"This won't be like our last encounter on the Colossus," the robot doppelganger said. "I've upgraded my software and improved my hardware's capabilities."

"You were there?" Sonic quipped. "I just remember proposing to Sally while keeping bots at bay, then we were devolved, and I guess we just forgot about you when our brains turned to mush."

"I'll turn your WHOLE BODY into mush!" Metal rocketed forward and Sonic boosted to meet him, on impact they ricocheted off each other and Sonic hung off a pipe while Metal's claw dug into the wall behind him. "I have studied all of your previous battles. I can predict any move you can make!"

"Then how about something I've been working on?"

Sonic began to focus. _"Ok, if Shadow and Knuckles can do this so can I. Just have to let the energy take shape and then release."_

After feeling a spinning sensation in his hand Sonic looked and saw a ring-shaped vortex made of air swirling. He let a smile spread on his face as he leapt up and flung the cyclone towards the robot.

"SONIC WIND!"

The vortex spun as it flew cutting a pipe as it flew near.

"Engaging Black Shield!" a sphere made of black energy appeared around Neo Metal just before Sonic's attack hit. The cyclone kept hitting the barrier until the winds died. "Did you really think something you never used in combat before would destroy me?"

"Not really," Sonic said with a smirk. "But it did distract you from Tails and Nicole setting this factory's reactor to blow." Klaxons then sounded as alarm lights lit up. "If there's anything Mr. Perfect wants to keep from here you may want to get it now, I have some friends to pick up."

Metal clenched his fist as he turned away. "Next time it will take more than a massive explosion to save you from me!"

Sonic turned and tapped the radio headset he was wearing. "I'm on my way, did you get it?"

"Almost," Tails said from earpiece. "Nicole is still trying to get past the last set of encryptions."

"No time left, tell her to just grab it and log out. We can crack the code once we take it back to Freedom City."

"Copy that, I'll get her out."

"Good I should get there…" Sonic turned a corner and found Tails and Nicole next to a computer terminal. "…Now."

Tails went up to the lynx who was wearing a shoulder-less, sleeveless dress with black pants, decorated with a small broach that was glowing green along with similar decorations on her gloves and boots as green holograms hung around her eyes, hands and feet. "Nicole log out, we're out of time!"

The glow from her jewelry faded away to the same purple as the dress as the holograms vanished. Nicole turned to Tails. "I stored the data in my cyber suit, you and Rotor's invention passed this test with flying colors."

"Great," Sonic said as he grabbed Nicole and Tails by the wrist. "Now let's blow this joint before the joint blows us!"

He carried the two outside the volcano factory where Tail's new Tornado was parked, taking off just as the facility exploded.

Sonic while sitting on the wing of the plane turned on one of Tail's terminals and hit a button, Sally's face appeared on it. "Scratch one lava powered bot factory. Go ahead and let the people of Traveler's Rest Village know that their hot springs should be warming back up in a few days and bring back the tourists."

"Great work," Sally said over the line. "Did you manage to get the deployment orders to the neo swats that factory was making?

"I have it right here, but it still needs decrypting," said Nicole. "The virtual interface of the cyber suit isn't quite the same as actually being in cyberspace, but it lets me work like I used to as a program. It feels great to be able to contribute to the team again."

"I'm just glad we have a team," said Tails. "With everything Viktor was able to gain while we were devolved it was either the Freedom Fighters get back to business or he'd start steamrolling all opposition."

Sally sighed. "I'm glad the Council changed their minds, but now were back to where we were before everything started coming apart a year ago. At this rate I'm afraid the only time we won't have to fight is when we get so old we can only help by keeping an eye on our grandkids."

"Speak for yourself," said Sonic. "I'll keep bashing badnicks into my eighties, if that's what it takes."

"I don't suppose we've heard back from Amy, Lucian and Fiona, yet have we?" asked Tails. "The family went to the opening of Uncle Derrick's new parlor and while it was big success, we could tell that all they could think of was what happened to my cousin."

"I'm sorry but they haven't shown up yet," said Sally. "When we investigated where Lucian was supposed to be hiding Amy all we could find was the hover bike Fiona barrowed from Nicolette and what looked like a burned down cottage along with the burnt remains of Amy's communicator, but we haven't given up on finding them yet."

"Still can't believe we haven't heard from them after all this time," said Sonic. "Fiona and Lucian weren't technically Freedom Fighters, but nothing from Amy? That's not like her."

Nicole gulped. "You don't think while they were devolved a predator…"

"No, we have to believe their instincts would keep them safe."

"In any event we have another job to do when you get back here Sonic," Sally said from the terminal.

"Great, so what are we doing, taking out another base? Rebuilding a town Mr. Perfect wrecked?"

"No, Father wants the two of us to speak with him about our roles in tomorrow's Heritage Festival and after that the three of us are going to join Mother and your parents about setting a date for our wedding and getting the arrangements ready."

Sonic groaned. "Having to wear that stuffy outfit for your dad's speech is bad enough, but our folks getting involved with every detail of our wedding too, can't we just elope? I thought we agreed we just wanted a simple ceremony with close friends and family."

"Sonic I'm a princess and you're the Hero of Mobius, of course people would make a big deal out of our wedding. Don't worry I'll be there with you to put our collective foot down where it matters, and I think you'll like the engagement ring I got you. See you then." After blowing a kiss through the monitor Sally cut the connection.

Sonic groaned and hung his head dejectedly, Nicole glared at him. "Don't tell me you still haven't gotten her a ring yet? Sonic it's been almost a month since you proposed!"

"I know, I've been looking for the perfect ring! It's not like I'm hard up for cash but any ring I think is good enough for her is also too expensive for me to afford! Me using my hero status to get a discount or asking my fiancée for a raise so I can buy her a ring just seems scummy to me."

"If money's a problem then I'll chip in," said Tails. "Cream and I are going to take things slowly, wait until we're mentally mature as well as physically so expensive gifts can wait."

Sonic then snapped his fingers. "'Chip in! Tails you're an even bigger genius than you realize! I already have the perfect ring! The one Chip gave me before he became one with the planet again! I just have to run home, pick it up and give it to Sally, I bet he'd be ok with the idea of me using it like that!"

Nicole smiled. "A bit large for an engagement ring but with what it means and how it's one of a kind she's going to love it!"

"Yeah," said Tails. "It'll be nice to have a pleasant surprise after all the nasty ones we've had lately."

* * *

In the Temple of Ixis the Supreme Council were seated at the table of the idol chamber, from his throne like chair Specter placed his index and middle fingers to his forehead. "Harbingers of Ixis, I hereby summon you."

Jets of wind, flame, stone, water and energy came from a hole in the ceiling. The landed in front of the throne where they became Amy, Lucian, Fiona, Geoffrey and Hershey who then knelt before him. "My Lord," said Lucian. "We reached many with Ixis' truth throughout Mobius as you have instructed us, their presence secret and awaiting our command."

"Excellent work my disciples, now you are ready to prepare for the Elemental War."

"We are ready to unleash the elementals on Usurpers' servants and show them the futility of defying the true god of this world," said Fiona.

"Herald of Fire, Herald of Chaos, step forward and be touched by the power of Iblis."

Hershey and Amy stood and spread their arms. "We humbly accept this gift." With a wave of Specter's hand, a flame was drawn from the crystal with a fiery eye in the idol's hand which then flung itself into the cat and hedgehog.

With a single motion Hershey made a wolf like creature made of lava appear but instead of attacking anyone the Iblis Biter let her pet him like he was a mobini dog. "Incredible, I can command it through sheer thought alone."

"As can the Herald of Chaos, since it is her task to unify the elements."

"What do the rest of us need to do to prove ourselves worthy?" asked Geoffrey as Hershey dispelled the Biter with a wave of her hand.

Specter motioned to the idol. "You already have, but we need to obtain the essences of Earth, Air and Water before you can control those elementals. Already we possess a vessel to hold the Essence of Earth, we simply need to find a way to fill it. Have your disciples look for any sign as to where these essences can be."

"Lord Specter," Regina said at her seat with a bow of her head. "While our elites were devolved, I used information from the Eggnet to find the Water Essence and took it upon myself to retrieve it. But the Black Emerald, or the Ancient Onyx as it was called by the Wolf Pack and Felidae who guarded it, was not there. Most likely they had moved it during the Phantom Ruby War to keep it out of Eggman's hands before they were brainboxed."

"I appreciate your initiative Ferrum, but if you had come to me then I would said you needn't have bothered. The Grand Design will let us find the essences at the moments when it is of most benefit to us, at which point the Supreme Council will collect them discreetly while the elite will indirectly provide the needed diversions. But today I need you to return to Freedom City my elite and spread the message there, but this will be different it is time for you to come out onto the open. At tomorrow's Heritage Festival you will present a gift to the royal family, one that will shake confidence in the very foundations of the Republic while giving you and your followers legitimacy."

"What kind of gift?" asked Amy. "We…won't have to hurt our friends, will we?"

"Mammoth has already prepared the gift, as for your friends who haven't…" Specter suddenly went into a coughing fit, one so fierce he had to remove his mask exposing Charlemagne's face.

"My lord, Master!" Lucian cried out.

Specter got out of the chair and leaned over the table gasping for breath. "I'm fine, this body simply needs its usual medicine. I'll discuss the further details with the Elite in my private chambers, the rest of you are dismissed."

Naugus stood up from his seat looking angry. "Alright you three, I'll ask him! My lord if this next step is as important you say it is then shouldn't the Supreme Council know the details? Especially since we will also be in command of these new Ixis mages and the element…"

Specter made a grasping motion and Naugus then had a pained expression and clutched his chest like he was having a heart attack.

"You will know what I need you to know, when I need you to know it! You will all have your followers when Grand Design needs you to have them and not a second sooner! Am I clear Naugus?!"

As soon as Specter released his grip on the air Naugus took a deep breath as if his heart attack suddenly stopped. "Crystal, my lord," the mutant gasped.

"Very well, the Council is dismissed."

The elite took Specter from the room, a moment the later after the rest of the Order left the chambers Mammoth tapped his cane on the stone floor. "If I may have a word with the rest of you, I'd like to share our concerns about Specter and this arrangement we find ourselves in."

Naugus growled. "Looking for traitors so your old friend will let you make me your mindless lapdog again?! I think not!"

"Morgana was my friend and I gave Specter my promise thinking I was giving it to her. If it weren't for me needing his power to feed this Ixis Crystal, I'd have considered our contract null and void for making it under false pretenses."

"So, you want out," Naugus sneered. "Easier said than done."

"He promised the rest of you a share in control of the world, but those followers are going to others, aren't they?"

Regina tapped her chin. "It has been a lot of work with little payoff so far and it does seem like he's favoring the Five Elite because he got them to believe this Ixis god business, which would give him more control. What are you proposing?"

"That perhaps we should bring the Order back to how I founded it, a guild of those who seek the power to change the world, not some cult of an imprisoned hyper energy organism."

"I think I may have a way to do that," cackled Witchcart. "When he sent me to get Light Gaia's focus, I took the opportunity to look at Charlemagne's hospital records since the split image would be in the same condition as Charlemagne's actual body. What I have found made me suspicious and that attack he had back there had confirmed it, Charlemagne's body can only withstand Specter's power for so long, he's dying. Specter will have to move to a new vessel and soon."

"You mean one of us?" Regina gulped.

"Doubtful," said Mammoth. "Remember what he told Lucian? Lucian's place in the Grand Design is not as his vessel, I think Specter has someone specific in mind. If it were one of us, he'd have probably taken that body by now. No, there will be a moment when he'll have someone else take the mask."

Naugus grinned wickedly. "At which point he'll be vulnerable; we just have to wait until the Overlander dies then we either destroy the mask or keep anyone from touching it ever again. Then the Order, it's followers and the elementals will be mine!"

"Ours," corrected Regina. "This plan has risks, but the rewards might be beyond imagining."

"Better than having to play second banana to my former apprentice," said Witchcart.

"We have to be patient and cautious" said Mammoth. "This little conspiracy cannot spread past the four of us or we risk Specter's wrath. Until then we have a truce not to move against each other." At the last part he gave a hard glare at Naugus.

"A truce it is then," grumbled Naugus.

"We better get back to our own duties for now," said Regina. "Keep things looking normal."

After they spread out Witchcart reappeared in front of Naugus. "I have a proposition that can benefit us both."

Naugus chuckled. "No sooner that we formed our little alliance then you seek to subvert it for your own gain, I like that. You have my attention."

"The reason I looked into Charlemagne's health was because Specter asked me to help make him a backup phylactery."

"And you didn't think to inform the rest of our little conspiracy because…"

"I prepared the relic; I know enough to make more. We can use those phylacteries to say allow the personalities of those three wizards in your head to inhabit young strong bodies of their own."

Naugus grinned like a shark. "Witchcart you did something I thought was not possible, you made the four of us come to an agreement."

* * *

"You got to be kidding me!" Sonic yelled as he began tearing his room apart. "It has to be here somewhere!"

Bernadette and Jules came into the room. "Sonic we have to be at the Royal Estate in…What's going on?"

"I can't find Chip's ring! The one I was going to give to Sally as an engagement ring! Sally was going to give me my ring when we got there, if I show up without hers, she'll kill me! It's grey, big enough to wear like a bracelet and has a big green orb on it. I kept it with a bunch of other souvenirs from my past adventures and none of the rest of those are missing."

Bernadette shook her head. "Well I picked this place up while you gone, you're welcome by the way, and I hadn't seen anything like that then. Have you looked everywhere?"

"I used my speed to comb over the whole apartment about a dozen times! What am I going to do!?"

Jules sighed left the room and came back a moment later with a gold band with a small diamond. "It's not going to help with finding your friend's gift, but we do have your grandmother's engagement ring. It's simpler than what you might have wanted for Sally, but since your grandfather worked so hard to buy it when they didn't have much then it meant the world to Mom. I think she'd want you to give it to the Princess."

Sonic took the ring. "I guess I wanted to impress Sal with the perfect ring so much I forgot that these rings are supposed to remind us of each other. A big fancy ring might be impressive, but it doesn't really say 'Sonic'. A power ring would do if it was a bit more permanent, but this is more my style. I still want to find Chip's ring, but I can do that after we get through our meeting with King Max."

As they left Bernie turned to Sonic. "When was the last time you saw Chip's ring?"

"It must have been…wow, I hadn't really looked at my souvenirs since the night after Robotnick and the Order of Ixis attacked the city."

Bernie sighed. "I was afraid of that, after the gene bombs rescue workers trying to gather the devolved citizens pretty much had free run of the whole city. I don't want to point fingers but one of them might have taken the chance to steal some valuables. I'll have to have a word with the Federation liaison and the building manager to see if we can ID anyone shady, but if it was stolen the chances of finding it now are pretty slim."

Sonic didn't say anything but began to feel unnerved. Something told him if the ring was stolen it wasn't done randomly, but why would someone want to take it if unless they knew it was connected to Light Gaia and if they knew they would have taken it for reasons other than just money.

On one of the rooftops near the Royal Estate, Gold had her eyes closed in meditation she glanced into the minds of everyone she could sense nearby. Not that there was any guarantee that this would help them find the Interloper, for all she knew they had been trained to resist psychic influences like the Rectifiers were, but to save the future they had to use every tool. She only looked at their surface thoughts long enough to tell they weren't the who they were looking for before moving on, from a very early age it was stressed that being able to read someone's mind was not a free pass to invade their privacy.

She cringed at the thought of the man who taught her that not only violated his own code to do something horrible for "the good of Mobius" as he justified it at the time but that he ended up being right, that if it weren't for what he did none of what they've done for the future and the Sol Dimension would have been possible. That if she started thinking like he did of the damage that could result was chilling.

* * *

"Penny for your thoughts?" Silver said as he levitated himself to sit next to her.

Gold opened her eyes and smiled. "You could have just used the mental link if you wanted to talk, but I appreciate seeing you face to face."

"Well given everything we've been through we never really had a chance to just be siblings and since there's nothing we need to be physically there for in the immediate future I'd think it'd be a good time to just…bond."

"Still getting used to having a sister now that you remember all the timelines you've been in?"

"Still getting used to having all those extra memories in general. I've been better at it since that incident on the Colossus, but I still wake up sometimes not remembering what history is supposed to be like. Still it's hard to think I could have forgotten about you or Blaze."

"How is she anyway? I'd like to have a chance to just talk with her too."

"I was using the link to check in with her before I got here. She's grateful that because of the link she can fulfill her duties as princess of the Sol Islands and still be ready to come help us at a moment's notice and she's invited us to visit her there once our mission's complete. From the way she talks about how beautiful they are sounds like a good vacation while we figure out what to do with our lives."

Gold looked to a park where Rosie was watching the orphans Sasha, Snaggle and Rory play. "Growing up I thought of Blaze as my best friend, practically a sister to both of us, now she's had this whole life we weren't a part of. I can't help but wonder, are we still friends?"

Silver shrugged. "She seems to have accepted her life before the Sol Zone at the very least, she's not the type to just ignore something about herself."

Gold hugged herself tight pressing her Sari close to her skin. "Even the burns, hers and…mine?"

"She…hasn't said anything about it. But even before you left, I thought we all got past that. It was an accident, none of us had control of our powers yet and we were just preschoolers then or would have been if they still had preschools."

"We still tried to use our powers on each other, all over a stupid doll. If Master hadn't been there…"

"It was the first real toy any of us had ever seen until then of course you'd fight over it. Only reason I didn't fight over it was because I thought it was too girly for me and I didn't want to give the bullies another reason to beat me up."

"We were considered freaks just because we were chaos adepts. With fewer people chaos powers were even rarer than they are now. Still better than how adepts were treated under the Imperium."

"I recall in the current timeline we were heavily sheltered, only really seeing the outside world when we had to move to a new hideout. How did you find out about the that?"

"Coming back from that zone I hid with a family of fugitives with an adept girl for a week. Adepts are tracked like everyone, but they were under stricter control."

"Yeah the moment they realized my psychic abilities those bots went from wanting to arrest me to wanting to kill me."

"Any crime committed by an adept is treated as much as the next worst class of offense and that's just the beginning. Every child is tested in the womb, pouch or egg and are sent to special schools at birth, for the first ten years of life they are tested vigorously to determine their power and teach control of them. The parents are only allowed contact once a month to 'minimize distractions' and on graduation they are released back into society, but reintegration can be difficult. Those who do abide by the law have their powers restricted by special collars, only allowed to use them when permitted by the Imperium usually for specialized jobs, but then there the rumors about those who go into the schools and just disappear. They say that the exceptionally talented or powerful are put into a secret program and trained to be Rectifiers."

Silver growled while clenching his fist. "Those guys who killed Edmund."

"Of course, that's just one theory as to where they come from. Not every Rectifier is an adept but a good number of them are and those that aren't have other ways to be on the same level. If one aspect of at least half the rumors are true then following the Imperium's orders is all they've known, I pity them really. But I'm sure once we save Sonic…"

Gold suddenly froze and locked her gaze back on the Royal Estate.

Silver turned the same way. "What's up?"

"They're here…Amy and the others."

Silver sighed. "This is going to be tough, if they're here for Sonic..."

"I didn't sense any overt hostility, but we know this ultimately won't end well for the Freedom Fighters and their friendship."

Silver clenched his fist again. "And there's nothing we can do about it."

* * *

Sally grinned at the engagement ring. "Sonic this was so sweet, giving me a family heirloom. Not only that it's elegant yet simple and unobtrusive, exactly what I wanted."

"I'm glad you love it," Sonic inwardly sighing with relief then looked at the simple silver band he now wore. "And the ring you gave me, way past cool."

"Well as happy as we are for your upcoming nuptials, we have to first address the Heritage Festival," King Max said with a grin. "Particularly since you are about to become a member of this family Sonic."

"Isn't the Heritage Festival supposed to be about recognizing the achievements of every species in the Kingdom, well Republic now."

Max started leading them to another room. "True, but every family likes to take the chance to show off ancestors who made partially noteworthy achievements. The House of Acorn just happens to have a few more than others."

They entered a gallery with portraits of the previous kings of the Kingdom of Acorn. "We have had our share of kings who were less than fit, but many more made exemplary contributions. As a boy I always loved the story of King…"

"Elias?" Sally said suddenly.

King Max turned to his daughter with a laugh. "A nice joke but neither of you were even a gleam in my eye yet."

"No Father, he's here." Sally went over to her brother who was lost looking at one of the portraits. "Elias are you ok? Things with Secret Freedom Fighters going well?"

Elias looked to the others with a start. "Wha? Oh sorry, everything's fine our ongoing operations to spy on Ascendency forces has been going well, but to be honest I only ever got as good leading them by doing what I'd thought you would Sally."

"If this is about the Heritage Festival, I wanted to speak to you and Megan separately," said Max. "Just to streamline things."

"No, the thing is Megan and I went to see Doctor Rabbot this morning. Megan's been having checkups to make sure nothing was wrong with the new baby after being devolved and then re-evolved in the womb."

Max gasped. "There's nothing wrong with my grandchild is there?"

"The baby is perfectly healthy, to our relief. But Doctor Rabbot accidently slipped something to us as she explained the diagnosis." Elias had a contented smile. "It's a boy, I was just looking through the family tree for inspiration for my son's name."

The king sighed in relief as Sally hugged her brother. "Congratulations, between Alexis and her little brother I'm sure you and Megan will be able to give Sonic and me quite a few parenting tips," Sonic gave Sally a surprised look. "Er, whenever we eventually decide to become parents of course."

Max clamped Elias' shoulder. "Well if you're trying to pick a name our family has an excellent selection to choose from." He began to point out a few portraits. "As a boy I loved the stories about my grandfather, Sebastian the Worldly, and his many adventures throughout Mobius. Reginald the Romantic, who ushered in perhaps the kingdom's greatest era of art and culture. Of course, then there is our most prominent ancestor Alexander the Unifier. He accomplished what no one before thought possible and united many Mobian species into one kingdom who named him their first king because they believed he could keep them together."

"A lot to live up to," said Elias. "Now I'm afraid of overwhelming the little guy with this big a legacy."

"Hey if all else fails you can always name him after me," Sonic laughed.

"Personally, I think Cyrus would be just perfect," said a familiar sounding voice. Turning around they found Geoffrey and Hershey standing in a doorway wearing green and red leather clothing. Geoffery had a strange smile on his face. "But only because you're having a son."

"Maybe when Sally has her first daughter, she and Sonic can name her Morgana," Hershey said with the same odd smile. "Those names somehow seem to fit the House of Acorn so well."

Elias stepped right up to the couple. "You both have a lot of nerve, just coming here after what you've done. Even when Naugus was removed you chose the Order of Ixis over your country Geoffrey and Hershey you came to Harvey saying you wanted to help us get Geoff out from under Naugus' thumb but it was all a trick for your real masters. You could both be arrested for treason for those acts alone."

"Very well then," Geoffrey clenched his fists lightly and turned his wrists over to the royals. "I surrender go ahead and arrest me, I'll even waive the pardon Naugus gave me when he was king, that should make your case so airtight you could use it as a spacecraft."

Hershey came forward offering her wrists in the same way. "That goes for me too, we even waive our right to a trial, so you can just cut to the chase and send us to prison like we deserve."

Sally sighed. "There was I time I wished for nothing but happiness for you two, but if you're willing to do this then it's clear we have to…"

"Say no to you," Sonic interrupted.

"I beg your pardon?" asked Geoffrey as everyone turned to Sonic surprised.

"We have no idea where Mammoth sent Naugus, he could come back, and even if he doesn't Witchcart is still out there and can make Hershey do anything she wants. From where I stand the only reason either of you would want something is if either of those creeps who have that pact with you wants it, which is all the reason I need not to give it to you."

"That…actually makes sense," said Sally. "But under those circumstances giving them free reign is also a bad idea."

The intruding couple giggled. "Oh, right the pacts," said Hershey. "We got rid of them."

Sally raised an eyebrow. "And how are we supposed to believe you?"

"If you can't bring yourself to believe them you can believe me," Amy said as she, Lucian and Fiona came into gallery. "And they are no longer bound to their former masters because something amazing happened to us."

Sonic was next to Amy in a flash and gave her a hug. "Guys we were so worried about you! Where have you been!? Why haven't tried to contact us earlier?"

"That's why we have come here, to explain things to you and to offer a gift to the royal family as part of our contribution to the Heritage Festival tomorrow. If we could move to somewhere more appropriate."

* * *

After everyone moved to the estate's audience room, with Sonic keeping an eye on Geoffrey and Hershey and they were joined by Merlin Prower. Sally looked to Amy calmly. "I know you have a lot to tell us so let's start at the beginning. What happened to you after we left to intercept the Colossus?"

The door opened as a balding Overlander came in on a cane. "I just heard my students have returned. I hope I haven't interrupted anything."

Lucian smiled. "Not at all master, I was hoping to tell you what happened to us as well. After everyone left on their missions to stop Robotnick Amy and me went to the cottage master and I lived in for most of my life but found a couple of unexpected trespassers in Geoffrey and Hershey."

"We managed to give the Order of Ixis the slip, which unfortunately now includes Naugus, and hid there," said Hershey. "We found the place warded and thought we could live our lives away from the world. A fight broke out and in the heat of things I ended up burning the cabin down by accident."

"Both sides were evenly matched until Fiona came along and tipped the odds in Amy and Lucian's favor," said Geoffrey. "They were trying to figure out what to do with the two of us when… Robotnick used the gene bombs."

"Like most of the planet we spent the next week as baby brained Mobini," said Fiona. "We were a lot friendlier to each other in that state and lived off what food the woods provided. But seven days later all of that changed."

"Suddenly there was this light," Amy said in awe. "It changed us back and then it spoke to us. It said it had the knowledge we could use to save everyone then it was all clear in my mind, a magic ritual we could use to expand the minds of everyone who was changed into Mobini. The Light said that with this you could undo what was done to the world Sonic, so we did it. It was tough there was a moment we faltered, and the spell was starting to fail, but the Light gave us just enough strength to get back long enough for you to do your thing."

"Wait, you're saying that spell you did was what made us smart enough to throw a wrench in Mr. Perfect's plan?" asked Sonic.

"Only because we were all chosen for a higher calling," said Geoffrey. "And for that our pacts with our former masters were undone."

"What sort of 'higher calling' are you talking about?" Sally raised an eyebrow then turned to Amy. "Are you saying that…"

Amy took out her Freedom Fighter badge and laid it down on the table in front of her. "One of the reasons I'm here is to tenure my resignation from the Freedom Fighters, effective immediately."

"I don't get it, you were so persistent in trying to be a Freedom Fighter, you made yourself older to be one and you were so ecstatic to finally be let onto the team. Now you're just quitting?"

"We were shown our true destiny, the way to lasting peace on this world. We spent the last three weeks telling new friends and we have started a little society to spread the message of the Great Illumination."

"And the Great Illumination is…?" Elias said with a raised eyebrow.

"When all of Mobius opens their hearts to truth of Ixis."

"Ixis?!" Merlin said moving in front of the five. "Didn't you heed the warning I gave Sonic?! Has Ixis already corrupted you like he tried to corrupt the Neo Walkers, like he once corrupted Enerjak?!"

"And why do think he's the evil one, Uncle Merlin?" Fiona said calmly. "Because your new Chaos Titan friends told you he was? We were told about many things, including the Titans."

"I'm confused," said Charlemagne. "Who or what are these Chaos Titans? Merlin told me that this Ixis is an evil force and Ixis magic left me open to it, I wasn't sure I believed him but given the strain it placed on my body I agreed to do so."

"When Mammoth Mogul discovered Ixis magic he had heard of Ixis' name but the significance was lost on him Master," said Lucian. "But Ixis is the architect of creation, the Chaos Titans are outsiders that had made the universe Ixis intended, but their implementation of it is flawed. As a result, existence has been plagued by never ending conflict but once the Great Illumination occurs everyone's hearts will change for the better and the universe will become the utopia it was always meant to be."

"Utopia my bushy tail!" spat Merlin. "Ixis tortured us! Drained us of the powers we were given by the Ancient Walkers!"

"Only because you believed the Titans' lies. They usurped Ixis' rightful place as the master of the Chaos Force and imprisoned him, then they took the universe he was going to create as their own. You, the Ancient Walkers, and others over the history of Mobius had been unknowingly taking what was his to give. The three of you would still be Neo Walkers, heck Enerjak would have joined the three of you, if you'd all opened yourselves to the truth."

"I don't need to dip my finger in ink to know it's black! We could just feel that Ixis was malevolent, that was why we refused his temptations! The Titans simply welcomed us as fellow protectors!"

"You felt what the Usurpers wanted you to feel," said Hershey. "That was the lie, it was the Titans who corrupted Enerjack like they would have corrupted you if Ixis hadn't taken those powers away and caused Enerjak and Aurora to be reborn as innocent unhatched babes. Despite how it may seem to you we're aren't threatening you to follow Ixis or be damned. We aren't forcing others to accept our beliefs; we're simply telling our message to all who wish to hear to give them hope. For those who don't believe we simply have faith that when the Great Illumination comes the differences between us will seem so trivial compared to the glory of Ixis that those who had not come to believe before, even the Titans, will accept him and his rule, then creation will be made perfect."

"When I got that synthetic Phantom Ruby, I fell for the utopia trap," said Sally. "I also thought I could just make people better and that would solve everything. The problem is that everyone has their own idea for what the perfect world is. You can't make it perfect for one person without rubbing another the wrong way, trying to make a single solution for everyone is how tyrants are empowered. The best we can hope for is to give people the freedom to make the best possible life for themselves if they'd allow others the same. I'm sorry but I must go with Merlin on this one. Whatever happened to you, whatever Ixis really is, he lied."

King Max nodded. "I ignored my Little Bean's intuition and was proven wrong enough times to know that if she feels something is wrong, she's usually right about it. I believe her and Merlin that this Ixis is dangerous."

"Just the name was enough to make me doubt this whole scam of yours," said Elias. "You expect me to believe the Order of Ixis is now just another religion, after they helped Robotnick wreck Freedom City AND give him the gene bomb?"

Geoffrey shrugged. "Specter and his Order of Ixis aren't affiliated with the Society of the Great Illumination. They simply use Ixis magic they have taken from the Chaos Force, that's all."

"I'll still pass thanks."

"Overlanders tended to view science as their god," said Charlemagne. "I personally am not religious in the least, but these past fourteen years I've taken a live and let live approach to those who believe in a higher power. If this Great Illumination is what you believe and you aren't forcing those beliefs on others then I have no problem with it, so long as this Ixis isn't actively hurting anyone."

Inwardly Specter smirked to himself. _"Staying in the Council's good graces is well worth this deception, at least until we have obtained the remaining essences."_

"What about you Sonic?" asked Fiona. "What do you think of our story?"

Sonic sighed. "The Chaos Titans…came to me in a dream, gave me a test I passed then rewarded me by having Fiest give me his last Chaos Emerald. If it wasn't for that I wouldn't have been able to save Ash from Specter. The Titans told me that an agent of an ancient force was trying to bring ruin to Mobius, that force has got to be Ixis. True they're are overly enigmatic, and I don't think any of you are the agent, but my gut tells me the Chaos Titans are the good guys. As for Ixis well I've beaten gods before, or things that were considered gods anyway, if he's what Merlin and Athair say he is the I'll find a way to stop him."

Amy simply sighed. "I see, in that case we would like to request that you let us present a history for the Heritage Festival. There are couple of people whose contributions to the Republic's history are quite frankly innumerable, yet they've been completely forgotten by modern scholars. We learned about these people while spreading our message and feel it is important to give them their due."

Merlin turned to Max with a stern look. "I strongly advise against this, if they are now servants of Ixis we can't trust anything they offer. We can't allow evil a foothold."

The king sighed. "Merlin I am glad the council can turn to you for advice on the mystical."

Merlin crossed his arms. "I have a feeling your next sentence is going to start with 'but'."

"But the Republic's constitution recognizes the citizens' rights to both freedom of expression and the free exercise of religion. The Heritage Festival lets everyone hold up an ancestor or hero that inspires them, they must be allowed access to this forum. Denying them just based on suspicion of what could go wrong would set a very dangerous precedent."

"Merlin," said Sally. "I know you want to protect us from something horrible, but if we deny the rights of the people to suppress evil then we're just doing evil's work for them."

Merlin sighed. "Well, no one said ensuring the triumph of good would be easy." He turned back to Amy and the others. "I can see you all sincerely do not intend evil, but the worst evils aren't always intended. I hope that this path will not lead to your own destruction."

Fiona took Merlin's hand. "I know we only really met once before, back when I was with the Freedom Fighters, but I found since then that because of the love your brother had for my father's sister we were family all along. Even if we disagree on what Ixis is I don't want it to come to divide this family…Uncle."

Merlin gave Fiona a hug then left the audience chamber.

"Thank you," said Lucian. "We also have a gift to mark the occasion, you'll receive it after we tell the history tomorrow. For now, we'll make perpetrations and touch base with friends and family. Master, Amy and I have something we'd like to ask you in private."

"Of course, my own chambers should give the us the privacy we need." Charlemagne led the hedgehog and tenrec out of the chamber."

"I have to go talk with my parents," said Fiona. "They must be worried sick about me."

"We better see Uncle Mars too," said Hershey. "It might not be the most pleasant conversation but at the very least we can tell him that whatever happens the two of us are sticking together."

Geoffrey smiled. "Yes luv, I'm sure we can convince him that you've grown far beyond the sick child he was so worried over."

After the three of them left Elias turned to Sonic. "Are you sure just letting them all go unwatched is a good idea?"

"Oh, they won't be unwatched," said Sally. "Charlemagne's already firmly with us about Ixis and I'm going to give Mars and the Foxes a heads up that while they should watch visiting family that they should still make them feel welcome and just tell us if they notice anything particularly strange."

"It just feels odd," Sonic said. "Amy could be flighty, but she was still someone we could trust. Now something's not right, with any of them. Going behind her back… I just want to talk to her one on one and get to what really happened. But Sally's right until we figure out what changed and how to get them back, we have to let them think we don't suspect anything."

"After this perhaps we should dwell on a happier note before getting into Heritage Festival details," said King Max. "First off do you have you set a date yet?"

Sally sighed with contentment. "We narrowed it down to a couple of days in spring, the weather should be perfect."

"Good for you sis," said Elias. "I can't imagine the thought process behind that. Me and Megan rushed ours to before Alexis was born, but you managed to arrange one between so many other weddings."

Sonic gulped as he and Sally looked at each other nervously. "Other weddings?"

"From what I've been hearing anyway. Knuckles and Julie-Su, Rotor and Sealia, Mina and Ash, there's a lot of weddings happening thanks to the soultouch Viktor left us all with. But leave it to my brilliant organizer sister to pick a date that wouldn't clash with the date of any…"

"We have to make a few calls!" Sally blurted. "Get everybody on the same page, space weddings far enough apart so the guests won't get fatigued but keep everyone on roughly where they want to be!"

"We also gotta double check to see if anyone else is suddenly getting married!" Sonic added. "We have to figure out if other weddings are happening among the Chaotix, the Downunda Freedom Fighters, the rest of the Artika Freedom Fighters, *gasp* Rosie and Uncle Chuck!"

Max sighed as the couple left to find the nearest communicator. "Looks like we'll be going over Festival details after all, that is once they deal with this… predicament."

* * *

The next day New Spring Park had been covered in several temporary pavilions, most displayed portraits of historical figures while people dressed in old fashioned clothing relayed their stories and achievements while others provided food and games.

As Cheese flew around her head Cream had taken a bite out of the cotton candy she was carrying. "I'm glad we could do this together Tails. The Heritage Festival makes everyone feel like a kid, so no one bats an eye at us if we have fun like them. It's a nice break from a month of adjusting to suddenly being a teenager."

"We deserve it," said Tails. "With a new war against the Robotnick Ascendancy on top of dealing with these changes, just enjoying the festival with you feels like the perfect first date." The moment the words left Tails mouth he clamped his hands over it.

Cream blushed so much she almost looked like a tomato. "D-date!? I know Mother and Father were ok with us going off on our own here, but you never said anything about this being a…"

"I-I only thought of it like that just now! We both agreed to take this whole soultouch thing very slowly, wait until our minds matured more before acting on it. I just felt so good about today and I made you feel…!"

Cream dropped the cotton candy as she began to wave her hands, Cheese saved the treat before it hit the ground. "No, it's not like that! I-I like this, just being together and enjoying each other's company. If they can be like this I wouldn't mind going on another date."

"Really? I mean I wasn't sure about how go ahead. This whole bonding thing has been thrust on everybody but everyone that's bonded now seems to be happy with it, not that Viktor meant for this to be permanent, we just… had to deal with a sudden jump through puberty right before that."

"I still feel more like playing with dolls and skipping rope most of the time but I think I'm slowly getting there, the other night Mother had to scold me because I was playing the music from the Forget-Me-Knots latest album too loud, I almost talked back to her…almost. If what Amy and Lucian went through is typical in a couple of years our minds will have grown almost as much as our bodies so there's no rush. We'll just take baby steps and just do this to have fun, then once we're ready maybe we can just mix in things like… kissing."

"Ok…If you aren't ready, I understand," Tails leaned in closer. "You sure you aren't ready?"

Cream leaned in as well. "Maybe, maybe not. Perhaps we should try it once, just to see if we are…"

"Hey Tails, Cream!" they both heard from above them. Looking up they saw Charmy flying down towards them with a fully restored Saffron by his side. "It's been awhile hasn't it?"

"What are you doing here?" Tails asked shaking Charmy's hand. "I thought you were helping to build New Echidnaopolis since Viktor leveled Albion to build his primary base for the Eurish region."

"We got the day off to share the accomplishments of the Golden Hive colony," Saffron said before turning to the rabbit. "So, you're Cream. Charmy told me a bit about you and showed me your picture, one before…"

"It's ok, I'm still getting used to it myself," Cream giggled.

"Well I'm really glad to make your acqua…" Saffron held her forehead and looked frustrated. "Acqua…"

"Acquaintance?"

Saffron sighed in relief. "That's it! Me and everyone who was devolved in the Twilight Cage was like that for longer than most, sometimes it gets hard to remember some of the more complicated words but it's been getting less frequent and most of them we only have trouble that first time. The doctors say it shouldn't last too much longer."

"Good for…you," Cream began to look sullen.

"What's wrong?" asked Charmy.

Tears started to leak from Cream's eyes. "Saffron and the Echidna will get back to normal soon, but Sonic's double from the No-zone had talked to Ms. Sally earlier about what happened. The zone cops can get to Moebius now, but it was already too late the Moebians were transformed for too long they can't be changed back to their original personalities even if another gene bomb was used. They aren't as susceptible to the anarchy beryls as Moebini so they're nicer, but they'll be that way forever."

Tails placed a reassuring hand on Cream's shoulder. "I know there were a lot of good Moebians and they didn't deserve that, I'm not sure anybody does. But if from what I remember when we were like that, I bet almost all of them are happier now than they had been for their whole lives. I know you rather they'd have chosen to be good on their own, but at least this way Scourge and the Suppression Squad won't be able to hurt anyone else and no one had to die for it to happen."

"I know that's the bright side, but I keep thinking 'how could Mammoth Mogul agree to do this for Specter'? I know he's a bad guy, but he didn't seem to be that kind of bad, that he could be reasoned with at least."

"As someone he managed to put a spell on, I think I got a good handle on how he thinks. He always thought he was the best person to lead Mobius, either by being the most powerful or the most experienced. He probably told himself he was protecting the world from a proven threat and if he could get whatever Specter promised him on top of that it was the smartest thing to do.

"What I don't get is why Specter wanted to do that to Moebius and the Nocturnus, mostly because we know so little about the creep. He had the Order of Ixis test the gene bombs but didn't tell Viktor making him do his own test, Robotnick has taken over a lot of territory thanks to the Order but Specter seemed to make them sit on their hands in response. He went to a lot of trouble to catch Geoffrey and Hershey, yet they seemed to escape him so easily, he's had the chaos emeralds and the essence of Iblis he stole from Blaze for a month now, but he hasn't used them. I have a bad feeling when he does make his move it'll throw us all off guard."

"Whatever that masked jerk has up his sleeve we'll face it together!" said Charmy. "After all we went through to get back together, I'll never let anyone take me and Saffron apart again!"

Saffron took the other' bee's hand. "Charmy, you've changed again. It's like when everything's fine you're the sweet little goofball I left when Thrash attacked me and Julie, but when things get serious it's like you're a more focused version of the hotheaded prince you were before you lost your memories. That's not a bad thing, if anything this whole mess brought you into balance."

"You've changed too Saffron. You're still the fun girl that was always there for me, maybe a bit more since you've been kind of flirty with me since you got the soultouch, but there's also this quiet strength that wasn't there before I lost you. I think we've both grown from all this and I can't wait to see where this growth will take us next."

A bell rang out over the park.

"The banquet's about to start," said Tails. "We all better get to our seats before they get to the histories of the House of Acorn." He turned to Cream. "So, are we sitting with your family or mine?"

Cream blushed again. "Actually…when I signed us in the computer took note of our actual ages and…we're sitting a kids' table."

"But a food fight always starts at those! Couldn't we just ask to move to be near one of our families?"

"I don't see how now it's starting; I didn't even know if you could come until yesterday and it was the best I could do on short notice."

As they flew to get a seat Tails groaned. "Now I know how Amy felt when she was the only one at elementary school who was as tall as the teachers."

* * *

Several tables were arranged in front of a stage on which a mouse actress in a toga knelt and held a crown before a similarly dressed squirrel actor. "Alexander Acorn, your vision had united all of our peoples. As king that vision will keep our newfound harmony strong for the rest of our days."

"Alexander" took the crown from the actress. "I accept this heavy burden and promise that as long as my family endures, we will protect this peace. For it is only when we trust one another that each of us can show the best of our people and all peoples."

As the actor put the crown on his head the audience broke out into applause then he and all the players came out to take a bow. The biggest round came from the table where the royal family was sitting as they all enthusiastically clapped, except for one.

"Sonic," Sally muttered as she continued the applause while wearing a blue gown. "They gave a good performance, be polite."

The hedgehog tugged at the collar of the old-fashioned uniform complete with epaulettes. "No, they didn't," he muttered back. "The 'king' up there was looking at his hand in every scene, probably because wrote down his lines in his palm."

Sally sighed. "Listen I know these formal events aren't your thing, but it means a lot that you're trying to show mother and father that you want to be part of this family. I appreciate it and I promise soon I'll do something to show I want to be a part of your family too."

Sonic gave a sly smile. "In that case you could come with us to skydive over Icecap zone before snowboarding down the mountain."

"Sonic it's not your family that wants to do that; I think it's just you."

"Offer's still on the table."

A lioness dressed in medieval clothes came on stage holding a scroll. "And now a new piece for this Heritage Festival. Presenting 'The Lost Tragedy of House Acorn' as performed by…" the lioness looked confused. "…The Society of the Great Illumination?"

This caused everyone at the royal table to bolt up. "Amy?" said Sonic. "They're giving their history now?"

"They never said it was about a member of this family," said Max. "I hope they don't bring up George the Foolish."

"More likely it's Silvanus the Resolute," said Elias. "George was unfit, but Silvanus was the more controversial one after retaking the Southern Baronies, we still had people arguing over it into the Robotnick Regime."

Sonic reached out to the king and prince. "It's still Amy, even if she's bought into this Ixis stuff she's still our friend. Besides if she had a problem, she'd reach for her hammer first not a script."

On stage the curtain rose, Amy stood center stage looking into the crowed as Lucian, Geoffrey, Hershey and Fiona stood in the wings.

"Before the Republic, before the kingdom, the many species had stood divided. Each species made up a tribe that fought over territory with other tribes. These tribes in turn were divided into clans, extended families who fought over territory within the tribe and the power to control it, uniting only to face threats from other tribes. Into this harsh, brutal world a girl was born."

Those in the wings cast a spell that shown an image to the crowd who gasped in amazement as a little girl that bore an uncanny resemblance to Sally left a hut, the only differences were that she had the tail of a squirrel and she was clothed in only a loin cloth.

"Why are they making her look like me?" asked Sally. "I don't like where this is going."

"Maybe it's just meant as homage," said Alicia. "I hope."

"Morgana burned with a curiosity no one else had. She was always asking things like why things were the way they were, where did the world came from. Her elders just told her no one knew and to get her head out of the clouds.

"You see Morgana was the daughter of the clan chief and a promise was made for her to be married to Cyrus, a boy of another clan, when they were both still infants. With this marriage the two clans would cement an alliance that would protect them from stronger clans. Morgana wondered why she had to marry a boy she only met rarely but knew her clan was counting on her, so she did nothing more than ask other questions."

The image changed to and the girl grew to look exactly like Sally except for her tail and dress.

"Time passed and Morgana grew in beauty and curiosity, as those of other clans came to trade, she'd ask the same questions, but got back the same answers. Then one day misfortune struck when the news came to her that Cyrus and his entire clan were wiped out in a battle with another tribe. Her clan now in a weaker position than ever instead offered her as a bride to the high chieftain of the tribe, a man old enough to be her grandfather and notorious for his cruelty even to his own children and wives."

"Becoming fearful at her fate and no one able to give a good answer as why such misfortune came upon her Morgana for the first time in her life defied her family and ran away. Then the question that burned most in her mind was why the tribes and clans had to fight, 'surely' she thought 'there must be a place where tribes didn't fight'. One day she found that place."

In the image Morgana came on a group of several different Mobians all dressed in purple hooded robes, all of them practicing spells.

"Her whole world changed, not only did she find members of the different tribes working together, but that they were performing wonders she had thought impossible. Eager to be part of this new world she went to their leader."

Morgana came up to Master Mogul who after a moment smiled.

"Impressed with Morgana's desire for knowledge the grandmaster made her his apprentice. Under his tutelage she learned the ways of magic showing great talent. But even with her newfound gifts she found herself unsatisfied, she was no closer to knowing how Mobius came to be and more worrying the different tribes of the Order were united only in the name of each member's own greed. A few years later, her apprenticeship complete, Morgana went out to find her answers once more. But her travels were interrupted when she found the old high chieftain had her clan exterminated for the insult of her spurning him. Depressed at the unfairness of the world when one of her tribe's old enemies captured her, she didn't resist or use a single spell and she was made one of their slaves."

The image had shown Morgana stripped of her witch's robes and bound in chains only to run into another squirrel in a similar predicament, one who was a dead ringer of Elias.

"What are they planning now?" asked Elias.

"Maybe she's just using you guys as reference," said Sonic but deep down he was beginning to wonder.

"But in what she'd later call a miracle Morgana found Cyrus, the boy she was pledged to so long ago, alive but a slave like her. He had grown into a brave warrior, made to fight for his captors' amusement. With her resolve restored she used her magic so they could both make their escape. Having learned that the old high chieftain had died and the clans were fighting over control of the tribe Morgana and Cyrus came to the conclusion that if they could take control of the tribe they could use it to begin to make Mobius a better place, with the Order of Ixis as allies they could unite the tribes and end conflict forever. But no one would support the last members of clans that were gone, so they started a new clan."

In the image Cyrus and Morgana gave each other a deep kiss. Queen Alicia fainted at the sight of a couple who looked like her children become romantic, King Max just managed to catch her.

"Elias…" Megan said disturbed.

"It's not my idea!" the prince defended. "She's my sister, well not her but…!"

Sonic looked over to the princess. "You ok Sal?"

Sally was looking green. "I think I'm going to be sick."

In the image Amy had the two pick up the nearest seed. "They would start a family that would unite all Mobians, from the tiny acorn of their love a mighty oak would grow to bring lasting peace. And so was the humble beginning of the First Kingdom of Acorn."

"First Kingdom!?" said Maximillian as he tried to wake up his wife. "How could there have been a kingdom before Alexander the Unifier!?"

"Well according to Knuckles this seems to have been around the time of the Forgotten War about ten thousand years ago," Sally said trying to forget the image of what looked like her and her brother kissing. "Most Mobian historical records don't go back nearly that far, writing wasn't supposed to have spread that far outside the Echidna until about two thousand years ago."

The image had changed again to show Cyrus now wearing a feathered headdress and sitting on a simple stone throne with a large sheathed sword, Morgana stood next to him in similar garb with many children at their feet. "Thorough Cyrus' strength, Morgana's cunning and help from the Order of Ixis they took leadership of the tribe and began their family. Cyrus made his tribe into a kingdom through his military prowess and merciful terms to his enemies, Morgana promoted learning which in turn allowed their fledgling civilization to develop math, writing, pottery, architecture, metalworking, commerce and more.

The image changed again to show armored soldiers marching while watching on was Cyrus wearing a crown and now sporting a beard and Morgana with her own crown and fine clothes. Both had streaks of grey in their hair and stern expressions.

"But as the Order of Ixis went to war with the Knights of Aurora the First Kingdom of Acorn stood with their allies. But as the war dragged on the king and queen began to change, expanding their kingdom into an empire, pressing more and more of the tribes into fighting the echidna. Morgana came to learn secrets of Mobius that even the knights weren't aware of, she and Cyrus leveraged this knowledge along with her magic to convince other fledgling nations to join their cause.

The image shown Morgana giving a piece of advanced tech to group of birds who then knelt before her in response.

"Where once they sought power for the sake of spreading unity, now they united others for the sake of power. The lovers had become just as cruel as the world they once sought to change for everyone. Even their romance began to be just another tool to gain influence. But they spread too quickly and too greedily, the knowledge Morgana spread caught the attention of the Knights of Aurora who moved to deprive the Order of Ixis of their strongest ally."

The image had shown the palace of the first kingdom in flames as a bloodied Morgana and Cyrus embraced each other.

"Cyrus fought back but he was not a young man anymore and he was outnumbered, Morgana tried to protect him but even her best spells were no match for the technology of the knights. Everything they had spent a lifetime building was lost in the space of a single night; the only comfort left was to love each other one last time as they died in the other's arms."

The image vanished as the other for stood alongside Amy.

"Their children and grandchildren were stripped of all their wealth and exiled. But the Clan of Acorn remembered a time when Mobians of many tribes were untied as one. Most of the history was eventually lost, but that family after many, many years had reclaimed a legacy that they chased without knowing. But now that their tomb has been rediscovered with this account of their lives the Royal Family can add to their annals the story of those who started it all. The ruler of the First Kingdom whose people called Cyrus the Conqueror and the woman whose dream began everything, the one the people called Morgana the Witch Queen. They fulfilled their dream only to lose it to pride, a lesson we their heirs would do well to heed."

The five took and bow and quietly left most of the audience stunned into silence. Sonic got out of his seat and went towards the leaving five. "Amy!"

Amy turned to Sonic. "I hope that Sally likes the gift we gave her family, we'll see each other again real soon."

Amy and the others were wrapped in elemental energy and flew off.

* * *

Later back at the royal gallery the Freedom Fighters taking a close look at its latest addition.

"So, this was just waiting for you when you got back home?" asked Rotor.

"Zhis is fine brushwork," said Antione. "Who zhey got to paint zhis is classically trained."

"It's not all bad Sally Girl," Bunnie said nervously. "At least they got your good side."

A new portrait was displayed, depicting Cyrus the Conqueror on his throne his hand on the pommel of a greatsword, at his side was Morgana the Witchqueen with a ball of purple flame floating over her palm. Both had the faces of the prince and princess.

"Father why don't you take down this eyesore?!" Sally groaned.

Max sighed. "The council was just informed of the discovery of a tomb like the one of Ixis Vale Elias found last year. It seemed to have been looted but the inscriptions and the DNA from the remains confirm that the story the Society of the Great Illumination told was true. As much as George the Foolish was shunned and Silvanus the Resolute is divisive they were still members of this family, we can't deny that of Cyrus and Morgana despite the tyrants they became."

The king looked down sullen. "The Kingdom of Acorn, the Republic it became, the legacy that we and our ancestors tried generation after generation to live up to, it was all based on a lie. The myth of Alexander the Unifier, the first to unite the species under a common goal. Only he wasn't the first, he was unknowingly following in their footsteps."

Charlemagne stood next to Max. "Someone once told me that myths aren't stories that are untrue rather they are tales that don't fit neatly into the historical record which serve as the foundation for a culture, Alexander not being the first doesn't diminish his accomplishment. The fact he did so peacefully while his ancestors were forced to subjugate their rivals just makes his accomplishment greater than that of Cyrus and Morgana."

Elias huffed. "Well even if Cyrus is family Megan and I aren't going to take Geoffrey's suggestion and name our son after him. We talked a bit and we decided to name him Edward and call him Eddie after Megan's first husband, Alexis' biological father."

"A fitting legacy," said Sally. "And we'll make sure Edward grows up in a peaceful world. Still what were Amy and the others trying to accomplish with this? That last line about losing everything to pride was clearly a threat, but to do what? Everyone is shaken by this scandal but it's not big enough to get people to call for a change in government."

Elias shrugged. "Maybe they were trying to get us to reconsider joining this Society of theirs in a not so subtle way."

Sonic sighed. "I don't know. None of this makes sense, we're missing something here I can feel it."

Tails squinted at the painting. "Wait a minute… look at Morgana's hand!"

"Yes, the reminder that my whole family is descended from an evil Ixis Witch!" fumed Sally.

"No, the other hand there's something in it!"

Taking a closer look, they found that Morgana was holding something in the fold of her robes.

"I'm no art expert," said Rotor. "But usually painters don't add details that obscure unless they're trying to say something with them."

Nicole tapped the broach on her cyber suit. "I've taken an image of the painting," she then projected a hologram of the painting from the brooch then began moving her hands to change it. "Alright, let's crop this section, rotate it, zoom in, adjust the resolution and then assuming this object is symmetrical approximate the rest of it…"

The hologram became a three-dimensional image of something familiar.

Sally narrowed her eyes. "Specter's mask."

"They're trying to warn us," gasped Bunnie. "That Specter varmint is going to make his move soon."

"But how would they know? I'm not sure about Lucian but none of the rest of them aren't painters. They might have conjured it, but the point is that this could only have been made recently. If this is a message, then it shows they've been in contact with Specter and the Order of Ixis after the gene bomb crisis. That and how they're insisting Ixis is some benevolent force the most likely explanation has be…" Sally gave a sigh. "This Society of the Great Illumination under the control of the Order of Ixis."

Charlemagne was fixed on the hologram. "This is a most disturbing turn of events, I'll go inform the rest of the council, it would probably be best if they and the Freedom Fighter divisions present in the city conduct an emergency meeting to decide a course of action before relaying it to the rest. We may soon be fighting a war on two fronts."

"_I had you make this portrait Mogul!"_ Specter thought as he left. _"I can still work this to my advantage but we're going to have a talk about your artistic flourishes!"_

Sonic felt like a lead weight had settled in his stomach. "After everything she's done with us, I still can't believe we can't trust Amy anymore."

"It's worse than that," Sally said. "They've said they've been reaching others, it's very possible they have supporters pretending to be regular people. Sonic…we can't trust ANYONE anymore."

In the Temple of Ixis Specter's eyes opened from his meditation then he came into the idol chamber where the Five Elite and the Supreme Council were all gathered.

"My lord, I see you don't have to give your full attention to Freedom City at the moment," said Lucian. "Does this mean our mission was successful?"

"Successful enough," said Specter. "You gathered enough followers for to leave further tasks and recruitment to them, the message and gift were delivered, and the Republic government is nervous enough that they'll make mistakes they can't afford. The Grand Design has deemed your service for this task merits a reward."

Specter took out a pair of hourglass shaped bottles from his robes that had a deep pink liquid and handed one to Geoffrey. "Drink half of it then have your wife drink the other half. I think you'll both find the results, stimulating."

The skunk bowed. "Thank you, my lord."

"One bottle for two with three remaining," said Regina. "Did one of them, displease you my lord?"

"Not at all, but the way this potion works means at present it wouldn't help Fiona."

"Why my lord?" Fiona asked. "How am I lacking?"

"It isn't you who is lacking but the one to whom you've made a lasting bond with. If he is not with us, then we cannot trust him with secrets such as this."

"Mighty? Please my lord, let me go to Angel Island, I'm sure I can get him to see the light and we will serve Ixis together!"

"All in due time, for now be patient my child." Specter turned to Lucian and Amy. "As for the two of you I think you would want to use that document I had Charlemagne acquire for you before you receive my gift, since I am using his body I can fulfill any legal requirements."

Lucian gasped. "My lord, in actual years we're both still children! I mean no disrespect, but wouldn't the law still not allow it?"

"You are now both adults in mind and in body, you are within the spirit of law even though the letter couldn't foresee your circumstances. There was a saying in the old world that I think applies in this circumstance, 'age is nothing but a number'."

"Then if I would be so bold my lord," Amy said. "I had a vision of this moment, and even if circumstances would keep my friends from being here, I'd like to fulfill that vision."

"Be my guest, the Grand Design deems this time to be as you see fit."

Amy stood and with a gesture the room changed to look like a chapel with stained glass windows. Then her clothing changed to a pure white dress with a veil and a bouquet of flowers appeared in her hand. Then the pews were filled images of everyone Lucian and Amy knew and cared about as the elite and the council took the few remaining seats.

Specter took a place behind a pulpit as Lucian and Amy stood before it. "Dearly beloved, we have gathered here in the presence of almighty Ixis to join this man and this woman in the bonds of holy matrimony. If any present has reason for these two not to be lawfully wed speak now, and face the consequences, or forever hold your peace."

Specter conjured a rune covered rock then turned to Amy. "Amy Rose, answer in the presence of this Stone of Truth, in the presence of which one cannot deliberately lie. Do you take this man to be your husband to have and to hold, for better or worse, richer or poorer, in sickness and in health for as long as you both shall live?"

Amy gazed into Lucian's eyes. It was exactly like the vision she had as a child and the day the two had first met. "I do."

"Lucian the Tenrec, answer in the presence of this Stone of Truth, in the presence of which one cannot deliberately lie. Do you take this woman to be your wife to have and to hold, for better or worse, richer or poorer, in sickness and in health for as long as you both shall live?"

Lucian looked into the eyes of the girl he now realized he loved from the moment he first heard of her. "I do."

"You may present the rings."

With a gesture Amy created a gold band around Lucian's finger. "With this ring, I thee wed."

Lucian then formed another gold ring around Amy's finger. "With this ring, I thee wed."

"Then by the power vested in Charlemagne by the Republic of Acorn, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride."

As the two kissed passionately the illusionary crowd cheered before the whole scene faded away to the idol chamber, Amy's dress changing back to her Ixis garb.

"All that is left is to sign this certificate making this marriage legal."

The newlyweds reluctantly stopped their kiss and then signed the document.

Specter then handed the second potion to Lucian. "Consider this a wedding present. There's still much work to be done, but for now the rest of this day is yours to enjoy with each other. Everyone else, the Grand Design has no further need of us today." As everyone began to leave specter spoke again. "Master Mogul, I'd like to have a moment of your time alone."

Mammoth stopped in his tracks sensing the other masters were starting to get very nervous. He turned and saw that Stone of Truth created during the ceremony was still floating near Specter, this wasn't going to be easy. "Of course, how may help you my lord?"

The doors closed behind Mammoth as the rest of the order left, he had to deal with Specter and the stone alone. "That was an excellent portrait you made. It would belong in a museum if we didn't have to give it to the royal family."

"When you've lived as long as I have you pick up a few hobbies, I'm sure you must have had several."

"Just one, the interests of my vessels fascinate me, I find it amusing to see what a creature would do with their time when it's a limited commodity. For example, you got every detail of Morgana and Cyrus just right, it must be true that an elephant never forgets."

"Not really. It's been so long I never realized how much of a resemblance Sally and Elias have to their ancestors." Mammoth sighed. He had to keep Specter from asking the question he didn't want answered but he had questions of his own. "When we first met Morgana reminded me of someone I once knew. Her name was Ruby, and I tried to keep her by making her immortal like myself. But back then I barely understood how the emeralds worked and that ended up killing her. As she learned more and more, I began to see Morgana as the daughter I wish Ruby and I had. I wish she had stayed to further my ambitions but the answer she wanted I couldn't give. Then one day out of the blue Morgana came back to me, with a husband in tow. I didn't like Cyrus at first, but he made Morgana so happy I began to see him like a son.

"I was surprised when they both began to share my ambitions and saddened when that led to their demise. But they were never Morgana's ambitions, were they? They were yours."

Specter chuckled. "I have had countless vessels over the centuries, but not all of them I used the same way. Most I only influenced to do one or two tasks, often only to make sure the mask made its way to next vessel I needed, some I made do simple things that would have important ramifications decades or even centuries later. All these vessels I used so gingerly that they ended up living their lives none the wiser I ever existed at all. A few like Charlemagne I had to use more directly to influence a war or a trade deal or a work of literature to affect the actions of millions of others sometimes generations later, most never told a soul thinking they'd never be believed, some tried to tell others only to be called crazy.

"Morgana however actually considered me a friend. She was willing to do what I asked, including having me accept a vow from you, if I answered her questions. She hesitated at times but so great was her desire for a world without war and strife she compromised herself little by little and Cyrus so in love and eager to make her happy also compromised himself. Towards the end I asked Morgana to give the mask to one of her children to bury with her, in exchange I shown her that their kingdom would rise again. Once it was done, I made that child stay just long enough to see Morgana and Cyrus' last moments, they still believed in my promise of this world and that none of what they did was in vain."

Specter gave another chuckle. "So, you see I never changed Morgana, she changed herself and eventually took ALL your lessons to heart."

Mammoth sighed. "I see, forgive me my lord this particular task had made me a bit nostalgic."

"And was nostalgia the reason you added my mask to that portrait?"

Mammoth tried to think on his feet, he was unable to lie but if he could word his answer just right…

Suddenly the Stone of Truth shattered into pieces. "Never mind," Specter laughed. "You don't need to answer. I shall be in meditation until I summon you all again, you may go about your business until then."

Mammoth bowed then moved out of the room as if nothing was wrong only to sigh with relief the moment the door was closed. _"That was too close, I'll need to come up with a contingency plan. Mark my words Specter whatever you planned I am the only one who knows what's best for Mobius, and I'll do whatever it takes to ensure its future!"_

In his chamber Specter floated as he returned to his meditation. _"Mammoth when will you learn? There is no betrayal you and your co-conspirators can conceive, no event that can occur, no heroics that hedgehog can do that Ixis has not let me foresee!"_


	15. There goes the Nerberhood

Chapter 14

There Goes the Nerberhood

"Sonic, hear us."

The super speed hero opened his eyes only to find himself back in the multi-hued Sanctum of the Titans.

"I was wondering if you'd ever call me back."

"A critical juncture is approaching for you and your world," said the green hedgehog. "The Agent almost has all it needs to unleash its master."

Sonic crossed his arms. "Let me guess, the agent is Specter and the ancient force he serves is Ixis."

"You have come to the truth on your own," said the red wolf. "But even so you have only scratched the surface of the depths of this threat."

"What I care about is that it looks like old Masquerade has some of my friends thinking they're the good guys. They say that you stole the job of creating the universe from Ixis, I don't believe that but if I want to convince them I'm going to need your side of the story."

"Like all good lies what they were told contains a kernel of truth," said the blue dog. "There was a battle between us and Ixis before this universe, we won and imprisoned him but that is where the similarities end."

"Our task was to act as protectors of this world to keep it from being unmade," said the purple cat. "Ixis however stood in the way of its formation so we had to seal him away in the only thing that could contain his power, the Chaos Force."

"If unleashed he would take all that is and reshape reality to how he desires it," said the yellow bear. "It would be the end of you, your world and all the worlds that stem from it, this cannot be allowed to happen."

Sonic had a sneer. "So, this Ixis guy wants to destroy our universe just so he can make a new one?"

"No," said the White Rabbit. "He seeks to be a universe in and of himself. If on the infinitesimal chance that a consciousness of this reality could survive the transition, they would be more undifferentiated from Ixis than a single electron of a single atom of a single cell of your body would be from you."

"And here I thought Mr. Perfect had a big ego," Sonic then sighed. "Only I ended up helping them. I tried to save my friends with the Chaos Emerald you gave me, but I practically handed it over to Specter."

"The agent's acquisition of the emeralds was a big loss," said the green hedgehog. "But thankfully it wasn't a critical one, his plans cannot come to fruition with the emeralds alone."

"So that's why he was so quiet lately, but what's he looking for?"

"That your friends will soon make that clear to you," said the red wolf.

"But take care not to underestimate your foe," said the blue dog.

"For it is likely there is a plan within the plan," said the purple cat.

"Stay true to your friends and your beliefs," said the yellow bear.

"For only your heart will let you withstand what awaits your world next," said the white rabbit.

A blinding light came over Sonic as he heard the titans speak as one. "May the light of creation guide you on your path."

Sonic woke up to Sally speaking over the communicator on his nightside stand. "Sonic wake up! We need you to meet us at the Sky Patrol asap!"

Sonic answered the call. "I just had a chat with my titan pals, they said you found what the Order of Ixis is planning."

"We think so, Sir Charles and Professor Pickle seem to think so at least. As soon as you get here, we'll contact everyone involved while we're en route to our destination."

"Then I'm already there!"

Sonic was out the door in a blink.

* * *

Fiona was waiting outside the idol chamber of the Temple of Ixis. As she saw the couples that made up the rest of the Five Elite approach with very large smiles on their faces, she found her giving her own playful smirk. "I take it you've all enjoyed yourselves after using that potion; I was hearing strange noises late into the night."

Lucian sighed contentedly. "I never imagined it would be so… invigorating. It was like we somehow knew exactly where to touch, that I knew what Amy would like most before she even did."

Amy was giggling mischievously. "Too be honest I expected a sharper learning curve, your aunt told me and the Freedom Fighters that it took a lot of practice. Whatever was in that potion they should give it to all newlyweds."

"Not just them," said Hershey. "Usually we spent more time on pillow talk than 'feeding the kitty' but last night… we went back three more times."

Geoffrey beamed. "I don't consider myself a slouch in that department, but it felt like the soultouch we now share was on fire. When we finally did go to sleep it was out of sheer exhaustion."

"Way to make a girl feel jealous," Fiona laughed. The vixen then turned away looking wistful. "Maybe someday Mighty and I can have what you enjoy."

Amy put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "All the more reason to continue the will of Ixis."

Fiona smiled back. "In that case we mustn't keep Lord Specter waiting."

They entered the idol chamber where Specter and the Supreme Council were waiting. "Excellent," Specter said. "I hope you've enjoyed your time together, because I need you to separate for a while."

"Absence simply makes the Heart grow fonder my lord," said Hershey.

"Good, Heralds of Air and Water, you are to see Master Witchcart so that she may give you enough training in a skill that will be important in a future mission. Meanwhile the rest of you are to take the focus of Light Gaia and accompany Master Naugus, it is time to claim the Essence of Earth."

Specter levitated the ring to Amy's waiting hands. "We will not fail you my lord."

"Of course not, your success was foretold in Grand Design."

"My lord," said Fiona. "I am grateful that we are to gain the elementals I am to command, but may I ask a few questions first?"

"Ask them of Master Naugus," said Specter. "It is nearly time for the medicine this body requires so I must take my leave."

Naugus stepped into the spot Specter vacated. "Go ahead and ask your questions but keep them brief."

"Thank you," said Fiona. "So where are we going and how did we find where to collect this essence?"

"A seismologist close to one of the spies you recruited had found strange readings near where Robotropolis once stood. After examining records made during the Shattered Earth Crisis last year and ancient texts in our possession Lord Specter has determined this is where we can gather the Essence of Earth. We are to depart immediately."

"One more question, if Witchcart is to help the boys while we're gone what are masters Mammoth and Ferrum going to do?"

"Oh, don't worry about me," said Mammoth. "I have a business to run so I'll be making a few calls."

"And Lord Specter is having me make other preparations to gather the next essence," said Regina.

"I hope that satisfies you," said Naugus. "Now before we go there is one last precaution to make." Naugus took a teardrop shaped yellow stone on a chain out of his robes and handed it to Fiona. "Witchcart and I have worked together on this charm, it should enhance your powers if unforeseen circumstances land us in a battle."

"I hope it won't come to that, but better safe than sorry I guess." Fiona tucked the pendant into a pouch on her belt.

"We'll be back soon," said Hershey.

"I'll be counting the minutes," said Geoffrey.

Fiona, Hershey and Amy were covered in stone, flame and purple light respectively and flew off. Naugus changed into a shadow which then vanished.

"Alright boys if you'll follow me, we'll get you ready for your next task," Witchcart cackled.

After she left with the remaining elite and Regina left the room Mammoth took a cell phone out of his pocket.

"What can I do for you Mr. Mogul?" Breezie asked on the other end. "Something that I hope will not leave me to be devolved into a Mobini with while you are off who knows where."

"You're still mad about that?" said Mammoth. "It's just as I've explained, I couldn't risk Naugus taking you as a hostage. Again, I'm sorry but I have a request to make about that little event you're about to run in a couple of days."

"There's a lot of money tied up into that, perhaps if you made it worth my while with an increase to my year-end bonus?"

"I can do you one better, we can grant you magical power, something money can't buy and can be quite useful wouldn't you say?"

"That's very gracious of you Mr. Mogul. What do you need done?"

Mogul smiled to himself. It always paid to have an ace in the hole.

Outside Regina activated a communicator. "Snively if you can answer please pick up."

The image of Robotnick's toady appeared. "Regina I've been really worried about you. Viktor suspects the Order was planning to double cross him, as busy as he's been with the war, I've been able to slow down finding your location but I'm not sure how long I can put off finding you."

Regina smirked to herself. "You can tell Viktor we're staging a little revolt, and if he were so inclined as to help us, we can guarantee him worthwhile allies that tip the scales of this war in his favor."

"What about gene bombs? We figured out the one you gave us wasn't the only one."

"No but it was the last, how about I sweeten pot by telling you about an upcoming scheme we have that if Viktor plays his card right can help get rid of a certain meddlesome blue hedgehog once and for all."

* * *

The Sky Patrol was already in the air as Sonic sat down in the conference room with Sally, Rotor, Antione, Bunnie, Nicole, Silver and Gold.

"I've got Tails connected from the Bridge to here via intercom," Nicole said as she sat down. "Big's keeping an eye on things in Freedom City while Cream is at school."

Sonic was at the edge of his seat. "Ok, so what does the pick-a-card club have up their sleeve?"

"For that I'm going to connect us to a few witnesses and experts," Sally said. Some holographic displays popped up showing Professor Pickle, Sir Charles, Lupe and Blaze. "Thank you all for helping us, Sir Charles you better discuss your findings first."

"Yes, your highness," Chuck said. "Sonic your mother asked me to help look into the break in at your home and we managed to get this security footage.

The hologram changed to show a security camera recording of a young man with a cap over his eyes pocketing Chip's ring.

"There's our thief," Sonic growled. "Too bad we can't tell who it is."

"Actually, we can. Look at the mirror at the far end of the hall."

It was a bit far off the thief's reflection was that of a withered old crone.

"Witchcart, so the Order of Ixis were the ones who took Chip's ring. But why?"

"Probably the same reason a thief broke into the sanctum the Wolf Pack and the Felidae kept the Ancient Onyx," said Lupe. "Luckily for us my children took it during the Phantom Ruby War, Relic is studying it at Angel Island with our permission."

"Let me guess," said Blaze. "It has something to do with why Specter stole Iblis' Essence from my inner flame."

Chuck nodded. "We believe that it has something to do with how Ixis Magik works on the control of the four classical elements; Earth, Fire, Air and Water."

"But what does the Ancient Onyx have to do with any of this?" Asked Lupe.

"Relic forwarded her preliminary analysis," Sally said. "Turns out we ran across the Ancient Onyx before but knew it by another name, the Black Emerald."

"Zhat thing that held Chaos?!" gasped Antione. "Sacre Bleu, I thought it was lost when he and Tikal disappeared!"

"It was lost to our nations for ages," said Lupe. "We had only found it after the Wolf Pack Nation reestablished itself leading to our troubles with the Felidae. To think it was an echidna relic all this time…"

"So that means the Order has a powerful being of Fire, a relic of Earth and tried to get a relic that holds a powerful being of Water." Bunnie mused. "Sounds like we're just getting to the hootnanny after half the dances are done."

"This concerned me, so I went back to the Gaia Manuscripts," said Professor Pickle. "There was a line that went 'Light and Dark must be in balance in Gaia just as Gaia must be in balance with the rest of nature'. I first thought it meant that Gaia had to be in balance with life but now I think it refers to these other beings."

"Well the Black Emerald is secure for all intents and purposes," said Tails over the intercom. "So that means we have Water while Specter has Fire. I guess we're going after Air next to break the tie?"

"No," said Sally. "They wouldn't have taken Chip's ring unless they had a plan on how to empower it, the score's more like one and a half to one."

"But how can they empower it?" asked Sonic. "All the Gaia Temples were part of the Gaia Colossus when it was trapped in the planet's core."

"There might be another place where it is possible," said Professor Pickle. "The Gaia Manuscripts had this to say about the temples. 'Lo when Light and Dark return to their slumber the temples will slumber with them, until the Font of Gaia's power will call the temples once more. The Font will be in the protection of the people of the deep places, their king its guardian'."

"Deep places mean it's probably underground so…" Sally sighed unable to finish her sentence.

Sonic bolted up. "Don't tell me we're going…"

"…Unfortunately, we have to ask help from…" Sally sighed again. "…the Nerbs."

This elicited groans from almost everyone on the Sky Patrol.

Gold and Silver looked puzzled as the grey hedgehog raised his hand. "I don't get it, who are the Nerbs?"

"A subterranean offshoot of Mobians modern scientists believe are likely descend from an old-world animal called the Naked Mole Rat," said Nicole who seemed less upset than the others. "They are very reclusive but have a strong work ethic."

"You're only saying the nice stuff because you haven't dealt with them yourself!" grumbled Sonic. "They're also the most snobbish, annoying, and dweebiest creatures on the planet! They're so rigid in their how they're supposed to act that Robuttink and Eggman didn't even bother to roboticize them, they either didn't fight back because it wasn't Nerbish or some LIKED being his slaves because it wasn't that different from what they usually did!"

"Not all of them," said Sally. "There was a small Freedom Fighter division down there."

"Who were only slightly cool by copying us."

"In any case once the Phantom Ruby War ended, they managed to liberate their kingdom, but their king was still missing, and we hadn't heard anything from them since."

"Are we sure this is the only lead we have?" asked Rotor. "I mean how hard can it be to find a living embodiment of air?"

"We know the Order of Ixis will be going after this whatever this 'Font of Gaia' is. This is also our best chance to catch and interrogate one of them and learn what Specter's master plan is. We have at least some pull since we saved them once and the King made us honorary Nerbs." The Freedom Fighters shivered briefly. "We have to get to it first and that means working with the Nerbs no matter how much we don't want to." Sally groaned. "And I really don't want to."

They heard Tails sigh over the intercom. "Alright I'll set our course to near were Robotropolis used to be, that's the entry to their tunnel network nearest to their capital Nerberhood. We should be there in a half hour."

"Marine and I are on our way there now," said Blaze. "We should be there a couple of hours later in case they bring Iblis and we need to contain it again. Thankfully the Sol Emeralds and their affinity with Fire should let me take it back without pinballing me through time and space."

Lupe nodded. "I'll talk with Queen Hathor about our nations sending our most trusted warriors to Angel Island to protect the Ancient…sorry, Black Emerald. If the Order of Ixis really is after our sacred treasure it's only a matter of time until they find out where it really is."

"In the meantime, the professor and I will each conduct research to see if we can uncover whatever the Order would use for Air and what their scheme is," said Chuck.

"We all have our assignments," said Sally. "So, let's get to them."

After the communication lines closed Sonic turned to Sally. "How about we look for Masquerade's hideout instead? I hear Lethal Radioactive Zone is nice this time of year."

"No but if it makes you feel better, we can just cuddle a bit before we get there. I think we're both going to need a break."

Sonic took Sally's hand. "Best idea I've heard all day."

As the Freedom Fighters filed out of the conference room Gold and Silver heard Blaze in their minds. {Guys I have a problem. Marine is starting to ask questions I'm not sure we want her knowing the answers to. I don't want to drag her into our problems, but she's like a little sister to me, the same way Tails is a little brother to Sonic.}

{We're close to keeping our actions to change the future for the better intact,} thought Gold. {But this also the point that's going to cause the most strain between us and the people of this era. We must keep Sonic alive, but at the same time we'll have to keep the Freedom Fighters from reaching their goals or there won't be a us to save Sonic.}

{And that's the problem. I don't think I can bring myself to lie to her, but if I do tell her she'll either try to stop what needs to be done or she'll help us and become just as ostracized.}

{Blaze you're the person who knows Marine best,} thought Silver. {Whatever you decide, I'm sure you'll make the right call.}

{I hope you're right. We'll see you both when we get there.}

Silver silently wished that this wouldn't destroy Blaze and Marine's friendship.

* * *

A little later that day Gold was taking in the scale of the tunnel they were traveling through. "This is incredible, and the Nerbs dug all this themselves?"

"Yes, and not just this one," said Nicole. "They have tunnels crisscrossing Northamer, and perhaps every continent, that have been built over generations."

"Which means it's really easy to get lost down here," said Rotor. "So, stick together and keep an eye out for Deep Kraken. They aren't naturally aggressive but can be dangerous if we frighten them."

Tails, using a flashlight, scouted at the head of the group. "According to the map the Nerb Freedom Fighters left us Nerberhood should be past this next turn."

"Good," said Antione. "Hopefully they'll have what passes for cuisine down here."

As the team turned the corner, they came to an enormous cavern with an underground city nestled inside. The buildings along the edges were built right into the cave wall and a castle dominated what passed for a skyline.

Sally turned to the team. "The plan is to ask the first nerb we come across to find someone to escort us the Nerb Princess, if anyone knows where this Font of Gaia is it's her. I should be able to convince her one princess to another that the Order of Ixis or whatever agents they send can't be trusted. Then we set a trap for them and find out what they're up to, hopefully we got here first."

After walking for a couple of more minutes they were in downtown Nerberhood. Silver looked around. "Is it just me or are things a little too quiet down here?"

"My babysitter here does have a point," said Sonic. "We should have seen one of the little nimrods by now."

"So why does this place feel like a ghost town?" asked Bunnie.

Gold closed her eyes and the mark on her forehead glowed. "They're here, but they're hiding in their homes. Something is making them very afraid, some monster I've never…"

Suddenly a creature the size of a Mobian ran into the street from an alleyway. It had green skin, a large nose and prominent buck teeth. It was wearing pants, a tucked in white pocket shirt, pencils stuffed into the shirt pocket, a floppy red pointed hat and large thick glasses.

"There's one of them," said Sally. "Time to get some answers."

The Nerb collapsed at Sonic's feet and grabbed his ankles. "Get out of here! You have to leave before they find you!"

Sonic had a bold confident look after he shook the Nerb off. "If you're talking about the Order of Ixis then the calvary has arrived! We'll take care of those second-rate birthday performers!"

The Nerb shook his head. "It's not whoever you said it was! You have to run before it's too late!"

Suddenly there was a maniacal laughter echoing off the buildings. "Oh, it's already too late!"

Suddenly Sonic, Tails, Nicole, Silver, Gold and the Nerb were covered in a sticky green slime that glued them to the ground as several beat-up looking Egg Pawns came out of the alleys, their guns dripping with the slime.

"Ugh, what is this gunk?!" yelled Gold.

"Just a little something we gave the bots, so they don't break our toys when we play with them!" The unseen maniac laughed.

"Wait," said Tails. "I know that voice."

A tall lanky pink horned monster leapt from a roof top, his blue tongue waving in the air. "Hey Tails, miss me?! You've gotten taller since you tricked us by faking your legionization!"

Sonic gritted his teeth. "Zazz, I thought I finished you and the rest of the Deadly Six back at Lost Hex!"

A fat yellow horned monster came from an alley. "Guh, you can't get rid of us that easy."

Sally activated her ringblades. "Zomom's here too?!"

"Easy or not we're stopping y'all!" Bunnie said as she changed her left arm into a blaster, Antione drew his sword and Rotor took a wrench from his belt ready to use it as a club.

Zazz and Zomom thrusted their hands out and the three Freedom Fighters suddenly fell to the ground.

"Sacré Bleu!" Yelled Antione. "I can't move!"

"Whatever it is they're doing," grunted Rotor. "It's paralyzing the cybernetics in my back, and I bet your legionized bodies are being effected in the same way.

"Hahaha!" Zazz laughed. "By manipulating magnetic fields, we Zeti can control any machine we want!"

"Too bad for you I'm not a machine anymore!" Sally yelled as she charged the Zeti.

"Uh Zazz," Zomom said stretching his head. "She's not a robot anymore."

"You just figured that out!?" Sally leapt into the air. "Usually the fur's a dead giveaway!" She was about to bring her ringblades down on the villains.

Suddenly she felt a pain in her back as she was suddenly knocked to the ground by something from the shadows. She felt a clawed foot pin her. "Don't bother," said a white Zeti with purple hair holding a pale blue rose. "Resisting us is pointless, but then again life in general is pointless."

"Great timing Zor!" laughed Zazz. "Let's take Sonic and his friends here to the castle, the boss is going to love this!"

Moments later the egg pawns tied up the rest of the Freedom Fighters and brought them before a throne, on either side a Zeti stood. One was a green female with long green hair and a curled tail who was applying nail polish as if the Freedom Fighters weren't there. The other was blue tiny with a strand of white hair and a white moustache, he carried a wooden staff that was taller than he was.

On the throne however was the most impressive Zeti yet. He had a powerfully built red body with a cyan ponytail, huge horns and a serpentine tail. He got up looked at the gunked up hedgehog with a wicked expression. "Well if it isn't my old friend Sonic," the big Zeti said. "Oh wait, FRIENDS DON'T KNOCK YOU INTO MOLTEN LAVA!"

"Nice to see you too Zavok," Sonic said keeping his cool. "I'd ask what you Zeena, Zik and the rest of you rejects are doing here but I already know the answer, no good."

"After that humiliating defeat you handed us, we were forced into hiding once Eggman started his little war with the Phantom Ruby. But with him out of the picture we could start taking over this planet and this isolated little kingdom seemed like a good place to start until we came up with a plan to bring you Mobians to your knees."

"All it took was manipulating a few discarded badnicks and we can now strike anywhere on the continent without notice," said Master Zik. "Like a cobra hiding under an unsuspecting victim's bed."

"I personally hate it!" fumed Zeena. "This dank cavern is messing my hair and the only ones to torment here are those grody Nerbs!"

"Ah unhappy?" Sonic snarked. "Why don't you ungoop me and I'll give you a better home in a Republic prison cell?"

"No thanks, prison orange is SO out."

"What did you do to the Nerb Freedom Fighters Zavok?!" yelled Sally. "You couldn't have taken over without them fighting back!"

Zavok turned to the chipmunk. "Ah Princess, you're looking fleshier than when I took control of you from Eggman back at Lost Hex. Too bad, I was going to give just enough of your free will back so you could watch helplessly as your body disemboweled the hedgehog."

"Answer me you freak!"

"Oh, you'll meet them soon enough," Zavok turned to the Nerb who was caught with them. "Now as for you trying to escape…"

"P-please!" cried the nerb. "I'll work super hard for you, just don't hurt my family!"

"But why make you work when making you suffer is so much more fun?" Zavok plucked the glasses off the nearsighted Nerb and crushed them with his bare hand. "For example, watching you stumble your way to get replacements for these is very entertaining!"

The Zeti laughed as the nearsighted Nerb was kicked out of the throne room.

"So, you're bullying the Nerbs instead of enslaving them," snarled Tails. "Too bad for you Sonic and I can't stand bullies."

"It's not like there's anything you can do about it from a cell." Zavok pointed at Zomom. "Take the Egg Pawns and throw the intruders in the dungeon! We'll figure out the most delicious way of executing them and the others later!"

The Zeti laughed as the overweight fiend led them to the basement.

* * *

The Freedom Fighters were thrown in after each was untied, Zomom then slammed the door. "Now you stay put while I go on my lunch break! I hope there's still some of those sandwiches left."

"Don't worry," said a feminine voice from behind them. "Now that you're here we can escape and take our home back from those odious orges!"

The Freedom fighters turned and saw a few Nerbs who were dressed oddly for their kind. The nerb who spoke was wearing a purple suit with a bang of red hair coming from under her cap. With her was a nerb with a pink shirt and a two pointed hat, one with parted hair and a snobbish look, a legionized female with what looked like a swiss army knife for an arm and finally a nerb that instead of the cap had sunglasses, blue clothes and spiky blue hair.

"Here let me take care of that stuff for you," the legionized Nerb said as her arm sprayed an aerosol that dissolved the slime.

"Thanks," said Sonic. "So how did horn head and his flunkies manage to take over?"

"It was about a month ago," said the blue haired nerb. "Everyone was changed into Mobini and when we changed back, they had already moved in. Thankfully the Deadly Six still have no clue about the king and the energy source he's been protecting since he went missing."

"The Font of Gaia," said Sally. "That's why we're here."

"We know," said Princess Nerb. "We found out about it during the Shattered Earth Crisis, my father had been down there all this time trying to understand it. Your friends had already told us about how it can be used to restore Gaia's focus ring."

Sally raised an eyebrow. "What friends?"

The nerbs moved to the side to show three girls in the corner of the cell

"A lot of people said I'd end up back in jail," said Fiona. "But I don't think any of them would think it would be because of monsters from a lost world in the sky."

The Freedom Fighters turned and saw three familiar faces. "Princess they lied to you!" said Sally. "You three can drop the act! We saw the mask in the painting, you're now working for Specter, aren't you?"

"A mask in the painting?" said Amy. "What are you…!" She suddenly stopped and knelt over a toilet and emptied the contents of her stomach into it.

"We were given a vison of you with that ring here and came to see if we could help," said Hershey looking green around the gills herself. "Unfortunately, the Deadly Six didn't take too kindly to us finding out about their little operation down here."

"We tried to fight them off, but I think Hershey and I seem to be coming down with something," Amy said after recovering. "During the fight we got tired and dizzy suddenly, and they caught us. Since then we've been using the toilet in here a lot, our chests and backs feel sore, we have headaches and we can't keep anything down."

"They've been keeping my hands full," said Fiona. "My healing magic doesn't seem to do anything but whatever it is I seem to be immune at least."

"That ring was stolen from my home by Witchcart," said Sonic. "The three of you telling them about it being here doesn't look good for you guys."

"Check us for it then," said Hershey. "If we have it then you have proof that we're in league with the Order, if not then our story is the more legitimate."

"Search them," Sally sighed. "I really didn't want it to come to this."

Antione looked through the bag on Hershey's belt and found nothing. Tails took the teardrop shaped pendant from Fiona's belt pouch.

"Just a gift from a friend," she told her cousin. "And clearly not a ring."

Sonic hesitated as he opened Amy's bag and found nothing.

"The only ring I have on me is this one," said Amy as she shown her left hand. "The ring Lucian gave me when we got married last night."

Sonic was taken aback. "Y-you two just got married, without inviting your friends?"

Amy looked sullen. "I was under the impression that you no longer saw me as friend, even if I still did. We knew destiny had drawn us together and we couldn't wait anymore."

Sally stepped closer. "Amy…"

"As you can see, we don't have Chip's ring," Amy interrupted. "Which means the Order of Ixis have yet to bring it here so we should focus on freeing the nerbs."

"Plan's simple," said the blue haired Nerb. "All we need is a way to get out of here."

"Leave that to my sister and me," said Silver. "We have a way to get past big, dumb and hungry."

"Ok, once we're out we split into three teams. Anyone who needs to rely on gizmos will evacuate the city while Sonic distracts the Deadly Six with his speed. The princess will need a smaller team to come with her to make sure his lowliness and the Font of Gaia are safe."

"Tails and I go with you princess," Sally said before turning to the witches in the corner. "You three should help with the evacuation effort, two of you are sick and there might be wounded who need your help Fiona."

As the three girls began to get up, they heard a voice in their minds. {This is Naugus, I have shadowmelded myself and the ring into the Font Chamber. There isn't a way I can get to the font without the Nerb King noticing, is there anything you can do up there once you can escape?}

Amy cradled her head as if she was getting another headache carefully putting her index and middle fingers on her forehead as she did so. "Sally we have a common enemy here and we have to work together in order to beat them. Once we're sure the nerbs are safe we're coming back, and I think you should join us with King Nerb once you're sure he's fine, these people need to know he's still in charge."

Sally sighed. "You…actually have a point. Alright, once we're sure the font is secure, we'll come back and reinforce the attack."

"Thanks for listening to us," Amy took her hands off her head.

{Excellent,} Naugus said through telepathy. {It should be easy enough for me to lay low until they're far enough away that once they realize what's happening it will be too late for them to do anything about it. Be sure to make your escape before then.}

"Let's do it to it!" said Sonic. "And you can start now Gold, fatso is on his way back."

Zomom came to the cell. "Here's your lunch, I hope you like gruel!"

"What about cake?" Gold said suggestively.

"No cake for you! There wasn't even any in the kitchen for me!"

"But I could make you one," Gold's mark and eyes started to glow. "Let me out of here and I could bake one for you."

Zomom's eyes glowed in the same color briefly. "Uh, yeah! I'm the boss here so bake me a cake!"

The Zeti opened the door only to have the key taken out of grasp by Silver's telekinesis as Sonic spun into the tub of lard knocking him into the wall.

"Wow," said Amy. "He's even dumber than I remember."

"That should keep him out for a little bit," said Silver. "But I thought you could only use your mind control to get people to do small things."

"It's a lot easier to get someone to do something if they want to do it. I just had to connect opening the door to food and his gluttony did the rest."

"Alright we're heading to the font," said Sally. "The rest of you do your jobs and above all keep yourselves safe.

* * *

Zavok had his arms crossed and eyes closed in concentration as he stood on the balcony. "Are you sure master?"

"Those meddlers had to have come here for a reason," said Master Zix. "If we interrogate them and the rest of these nerbs the key to world conquest will fall into our hands like an overripened peach."

"It does make sense, and if they refuse to tell us as we torture them then at least I will have gotten my revenge on Sonic."

"Except there are three holes in that plan," Sonic quipped as he blurred into the room. "Hole number one Freedom Fighters don't give up, hole number two hurting my friends only succeeds in getting me mad and hole number three we have to be your prisoners for you to even try it."

The head zeti looked at the Hedgehog growling. "My only mistake was locking you up instead of tearing you apart!" Zavok threw a punch that Sonic quickly dodged causing large cracks to appear in the masonry. "Master, round up the others, I'll take care of Sonic personally!"

"Hit me with your best shot grim grin!"

Zik hopped off into the castle as Rotor peeked upward from the gate. "They took the bait, let's get the nerbs out of here! With any luck we'll run into Blaze and she'll even the odds against those trolls!"

"Blaze?" Hershey asked as they began herding Nerbs out of the city.

"Oh yeah, y'all haven't actually been introduced formally yet but she was the gal that kept you from burning up Amy and the rest back in freedom city."

"I…" Hershey clutched her head. "Strange I can barely remember anything that happened up on that roof."

"Me too," said Fiona. "I don't think it's whatever illness they caught."

"Maybe you should stick around and have 'ave Gold here take a peek in your heads," said Antione.

"Who?" asked Amy.

"Ok this is getting ridiculous," said Nicole. "Gold, Silver's sister, trying to help him save the future, tricked Zomom into letting us out a not ten minutes ago, about fifteen feet to your left?"

Amy looked at the holo-lynx confused. "Nicole you're not making sense, who's Silver?"

"Me," said Silver as he came up to Amy. "Right in front of you."

"I'm still waiting for an answer who's…now I can't remember who I was asking about."

"This is bad," said Rotor. "It's like they can't see…"

"…that we'd kick your butts if you escaped?!" shouted Zazz as he, Zomom, Zik, Zeena and Zor appeared behind them with several egg pawns.

"This is all your fault Zomom," said Zeena. "Now I may actually need to, ugh, work up a sweat!"

"Keep the civilians going," said Hershey. "As much tech as you have, they can just freeze you up again. The three of us will handle…oh."

She and Amy fell to their knees.

"No way!" yelled Bunnie. "Two of y'all are no condition to fight!"

"We got this!" Silver said readying his powers.

"Then I'll take them myself," said Fiona.

"Out of ze question!" said Antione. "They 'ave you outnumbered!"

"I just need to slow them down and we don't have any other options!" Fiona reached into her belt pouch and pulled out the pendant. "And I have a little trick up my sleeve. I'll be right behind you I promise."

Antione growled. "We'll be looking for you." He turned to Silver and Gold. "Make sure she gets there." He then began retreating with the others.

Fiona turned back to the zeti and placed the pendant around her neck. Her eyes started to glow purple. "Alright you pitiful little trolls." With a motion Fiona caused several huge boulders to fall from the ceiling on top of the egg pawns. "Let's rock."

The hedgehog and tenrec levitated a few of the stones. "What do you think is happening to them?" Silver asked.

Gold's mark lit up. "Whatever is we can't stop it, even if we had the power to."

* * *

Sonic and Zavok were treading blows as they leapt from the rooftops of the castle. "What's the matter gruesome?" Sonic laughed. "You'd think with all those muscles you'd be able to hurt me a little. Maybe it's because your head has more horn than brains in it!"

"Just wait until I get my claws on around your neck you little rodent!" Zavok slashed at Sonic only to make four gashes in the roof.

"Hey, Hedgehogs are eulipotyphlans, not rodents. If you're going to insult me get it right."

Zavok and Sonic began to trade punches and kicks. "You Mobians always thought so highly of yourselves, but Lost Hex had appeared in your world more times than you know. We zeti left our mark on the old civilizations when our ancestors scouted an island chain for a potential invasion. We lived on in their folklore for generations as terrors, Oni they called us, and we would have taken your world to replace our disintegrating one if it weren't for those accursed Xorda! They left almost no machines for us to control with our dwindling numbers or a means for us to leave Lost Hex, otherwise Master Zik in his prime would have stopped the Echidna civilization before it began and after a generation or two of under us your knuckle dragging ancestors would have thought you were born to be our playthings!"

"The thing I really find annoying about you rule the world types, no imagination! All that power and you would use it to get rich, pump up your ego or push around those weaker than you. Just once I'd like to meet one of you who wants to do it for something like unlimited free chili dogs, then I'd just set them up with Uncle Chuck problem solved."

"GRRRARRRGH!"

Zavok landed an uppercut on Sonic's jaw sending him tumbling coming to a stop at the edge of the roof.

Sonic got on his feet and stared the fiend down. "Ok, now I may have a fight on my hands."

* * *

Blaze and Marine marched down the tunnel. "Just wait until I show Tails my seashell collection!" said the Raccoon as she carried a duffel bag over her shoulder. "I've added a lot of ripper new ones since they started washing up from the Prime Zone's ocean."

Blaze sighed at hearing those words come out of someone who looked to be her age. "Marine we're here on an important mission, you have to stay focused."

"I know, Order of Ixis, try to imprison an evil fire god back in your body and all that. But you're still being so mysterious about all this, you barely told me anything about this future you came from."

"It's already gone, telling you now wouldn't do you any good."

Marine looked off glumly. "Used to be you could tell me anything. When I was little after I lost my mum and dad, I was scared that the dark would take me away without them nearby. You told me you were afraid of water when you little but thanks to the priests you overcame your fear, then you'd kept a little flame lit till I nodded off. Then one day the dark didn't seem so scary anymore and you haven't had to be my nightlight since."

Marine stopped in her tracks. "But I can tell you're keeping secrets, like you know something bad is about to 'appen. You always told me when we were in trouble, even when you stayed positive for others and I felt like it was because you could trust me to be able to take it. Is what you learned about yourself so bad that you think I can't take it? That I won't think of you like my sis anymore?"

Blaze turned around her expression motherly. "I do trust you, but there are things about myself that even growing up the first time I didn't know. About who my family was, what they did, what they suffered and how I came to be born. If I told you you'd have to make a very difficult choice, one I can't make for myself, and that choice will either make you hate me or be hated along with me."

"I don't see myself ever hating you sis, but if you do trust me then trust me to make that choice. Even if things happened differently and I still wouldn't have the girls here for a few years instead of last month, I'd still like to think you wouldn't see me as just a kid. That if everyone would hate me with you that I could handle it if it was with you."

Blaze smiled. "You're still a kid at heart, but not just a kid. Alright, you may want to sit down for this. Silver and Gold learned…"

"Blaze!" Rotor called as he and several nerbs came from around a corner.

"Is it the Order, have they brought Iblis?!"

"No but Sonic and a few others are back there fighting the Deadly Six."

"I've heard of those blokes," said Marine. "Real nasty bunch…" Then she looked like a lightbulb went off in her head. "But I have just the thing to deal with those cheeky blighters!"

"Marine," Blaze said shaking her head. "Fighting isn't your…"

"You said you trust me Blaze. Then trust me when I say if we get down there, those zeti won't stand a chance!"

Blaze was taken aback but then nodded. "Ok then let's do this, little sister."

"Good," said Antione. "Amy, Hershey how are you…" the cat and hedgehog were nowhere in sight.

"Dagnabbit!" Bunnie fumed. "They must have snuck back to help Fiona and that's if I'm being optimistic!"

"We'll find them!" said Blaze. "Let's go Marine!"

The Sol Islanders went down the tunnel to Nerberhood.

* * *

Master Zix fell at Fiona's feet the rest of zeti weren't in much better shape. "How did that girl get so strong?" the old man collapsed.

Fiona looked at her fallen foes with her now purple eyes. "Time to finish these annoyances off."

She created a few floating stalactites ready to fling down on the zeti them down only for a few bursts of flame to blast them into gravel. Fiona turned as Marine and Blaze were standing behind her.

"They're beaten!" yelled Marine. "You don't need have to make shish kabob out of 'em!"

"And you don't want to fight me over it," said Blaze. "You'll lose."

Fiona shrugged her shoulders. "I don't see why I should be worried about you raccoon girl."

"Uh didn't you hear Blaze here say you can't beat her!?" Marine huffed.

"Didn't I hear…? Are you saying there's someone I should be seeing and hearing?" Fiona then had a look of realization. "Or it isn't me but…" Fiona chuckled then took a relaxed stance. "Alright, I'm done here, but this is going to very interesting."

Fiona was covered in stone and then flew up through the ceiling.

"What was that all about?" asked Blaze.

"For some reason she, Hershey and Amy can't see, hear, or remember us," said Gold. "As for Fiona's attitude there it seemed to have started once she put that strange pendant on."

"I had to use my power to offset her attacks more than anything really," said Silver. "But none of this makes sense."

"Does it have something to do with this other mission Blaze is helping you with?" asked Marine. "She was about to tell me about when we heard you guys were in trouble."

"Wait," said Blaze. "They're the Deadly Six but I only count five of them, where's Sonic?"

Almost as if to answer her there was a large crash coming from the castle.

Gold smiled. "Something tells me he can take care of himself in this case."

* * *

"SONIC WIND!"

Zavok was with the disc of wind and stumbled only to find his footing again.

"Neat trick but I'm going to be the one to crush you this time!"

Sonic gave him a wink. "Then stop playing around and hit me with your best shot!"

Zavok roared as he charged, Sonic formed another wind disc and threw it.

Zavok sneered. "As if that would…"

Sonic then spin dashed into his own sonic wind, his spinning making it grow larger and faster until about a second later Zavok was hit by a spinning hedgehog AND the fierce wind ball he was strengthening.

"WHAT THE…?!"

The next instant the leader of the Deadly Six was launched across the cavern spinning like a pinwheel until he slammed into wall making a depression the shape of his body, a bigger but more shallow circular depression surrounding that and several cracks that ran from the first to the edge of the second. Out cold Zavok fell right next to his fallen cohorts.

Sonic speed from the castle and was where Zavok fell in a second. Moments later Sally, Tails, the nerb princess and a nerb with red robes and a crown were also looking at the fallen villains.

"Looks like you didn't need backup after all," said Sally.

"Awesome move Sonic," Blaze said impressed.

Sonic was grinning. "It was a complete improv, but I like the results. So, what do you think of me calling that one the 'Sonic Storm'? It's a work in progress I admit…"

"As long as my people are safe you can call it whatever you want," said the Nerb King. No noticed that Zor started to stir and pull out a blue rose. "Once again, the Nerb Kingdom is in your debt Freedom Fighters, I'm still learning about the font but I can assure you…"

Zor then threw the rose in the air which burst into a powder that covered the Zeti and a second later they burst through the surrounding crowd their vitality completely restored.

"I wouldn't celebrate just yet!" said Zavok.

Sonic growled. "Give up already! You're the toughest of your gang and I already beat you like three times now, four if you count a Phantom Ruby clone!"

"Not to mention you're outnumbered!" said Sally. "Don't make this harder for you than it already is!"

"You're the ones it's going to get harder for," sneered Zavok. "Because you aren't just fighting me but the combined power of the Deadly Six!" The red zeti then turned to his diminutive mentor. "Master Zix, it's time."

"This takes me back," said Zix. "I haven't done this properly since before you were even my student."

"Sounds nasty!" said Zazz. "Count me in!"

The rest seemed less enthused.

"Do we have to?" said Zor.

"We're going to look stupid!" whined Zeena.

"This always leaves me hungry…" grumbled Zomom.

"Would you rather lose to the hedgehog again?!" snarled Zavok.

The zeti each took a strange stance with Zavok taking the lead and the moment they did they each glowed with a dark light matching their individual colors. And a heavy aura of unease seemed to emanate from them.

"DEADLY SIX SUPER SECRET SPECIAL FORMATION!"

"They look strange," said Tails. "But whatever they're doing it's going to cause some real damage!"

Zavok broke into a wicked laugh "I admit you are truly a worthy foe Sonic! But you underestimated the combined power of the Deadly Six!"

"And you underestimated the power of my seashell collection!" Marine said as she reached into her duffel bag. A second later the sailor pulled out a large dark purple shell with spikes and opening that was glowing red.

The expressions of the Deadly Six went from wicked to aghast. "A cacophonic conch?!" yelled Master Zik. "Where did that girl…?!"

Marine blew into the shell like a horn producing a low thrumming note. The moment they heard it the Deadly Six lost whatever power they gained and fell to their knees covering their ears.

"Not again!" shouted Zavok. "Mark my words one day we will…get…our…"

The six criminals then collapsed once again.

Tails was looking over his terminal as he came close to Marine. "Great job bringing just the tool we needed and now that I got a reading of the wavelength the conch produced, I can find a variant that shouldn't hurt them but still cancel out their powers. This should keep them in a republic prison for a good long time."

"That's a relief," sighed the Nerb Princess "At least they got nowhere near the…"

Suddenly the cavern began to shake.

"Now what!?" said Sonic.

"The Font of Gaia!" said Sally. "In all the excitement I forgot about the Order of Ixis!"

"Follow me!" said King Nerb. "The Font chamber is this way!"

* * *

A few moments later they came into a small cave with a stream of green light coming from a hole in the floor. Right next to it Naugus had Chip's ring floating above his pincer, the orb glowing green but with a dark purple slit in it making it look like a monstrous eye.

"Looks like I have taken the prize this time Quickster," the mutant laughed. "I don't have time to play with you today, but I promise you the next time we meet I won't be so generous."

The wizard laughed as he became a shadow that melded into the wall then vanished.

"What did he do?!" asked the Nerb Princess.

"Whatever he did disturbed the font!" said the king. "This could be the end of all nerbdom!"

Suddenly something was shot out of the font and landed at Sonic's feet. It only took a second of seeing the maroon furred creature with little green wings to recognize him. "Chip?!"

Chip seemed to be a daze. "She's waking up… I tried to get her to see you're nice…"

Sally gasped. "Does he mean…?!"

"FOOLISH CELLS!" screamed an unrecognizable voice. "YOU HAVE AWAKENED ME BEFORE THE TIME OF MY CHOOSING, TWICE NOW!"

Everyone's attention was drawn to a big looming shadow then what was making it.

"THIS INSOLANCE WON'T GO UNANSWERED! TREMBLE BEFORE MY MIGHTY FORM AND PREPARE FOR YOUR MORTAL EXSISTANCES TO…"

The presence was confused as to why none of the others in the cave seemed to be afraid. Then it caught a glimpse of part of itself.

"This isn't my mighty form!" said a feminine looking creature chip's size. It resembled a dragon with green eyes, pink scales, little red wings and a couple of horns that while big compared to her head were still quite small. "What puny body is this?!"

Sonic then burst out laughing as he pointed at the creature. "That's quite a nice look for you 'Dark Gaia'! And here I was expecting another planet wide calamity!"

"The focus!" the little dragon sprite said. "I was awakened when they used it to siphon the essence of my other half! They not only succeeded but they've taken mine as well, that means…!"

"We've lost our powers," said Chip. "Until we get them back, we can't rejoin the planet."

Sonic was still laughing at the diminished Dark Gaia who then leered at him. "Sure, it's funny now but if the proper time of my awakening comes and I'm still not restored the consequences for this world will be disastrous! I demand you restore our power immediately and just maybe I'll simply return to sleep and let you live out the rest of your incredibly brief lives!"

"That's the problem," said Sally. "The man who did it has already escaped. We don't know where he and his allies are hiding but as long you don't hurt anyone, we're willing to let you come with us until we find them."

"This is what I've been trying to tell you," said Chip. "The people on the surface aren't just 'cells', a lot of them are nice, they're capable of so much and they're so eager to do it because they don't have as much time as we do. Just wait until you try ice cream!"

The dragon sprite sighed. "I suppose I can grace you zygotes with my presence until I can get out of this tiny vessel and back to my full majesty." She then pointed at the Freedom Fighters. "We start immediately! I'd like you to make SOME progress before I blink, and you expire of what your kind pitifully call old age!"

Sonic smirked. "Not one for casual conversation are you Whip?"

"Whip?"

"People are going to freak out if we call you 'Dark Gaia' in public so I'm going to call you Whip. It matches Chip and you seem to be cracking it enough."

"And it sounds like whipped cream," said Chip. "That's something else you're going to love!"

"…fine, 'Whip' will do for now," the diminished titan growled.

"Is there anything we can do to help?" asked the Nerb King.

"Just keep in touch with us if you see anything else strange," said Sally. "Especially if you see Amy, Hershey or Fiona again."

Chip suddenly flew in front of Sonic. "Wait, before Whip and I were brought here I sensed Fiona nearby. I was glad at first because we haven't talked in a month, but then suddenly it like she was Fiona but someone not her at the same time."

Gold closed her eyes. "It has to have something to do with that pendant she put on, the one that made her more powerful, but she was more vicious to the Deadly Six too. Just what was that thing?"

* * *

Fiona was absorbing a yellow light coming from the ring that was now back floating over one of hands of the idol depicting Ixis, a moment later the light stopped as they both landed on the floor. Fiona moved her hand a large creature appeared that looked like one of the chameleon-like nightmare minions of Dark Gaia only this one was made completely out of stone.

"You have performed exceedingly well today Herald of Earth," said Specter.

Fiona dismissed the creature and bowed her head her eyes back to their usual blue. "Thank you, my lord. But honestly, I must thank masters Naugus and Witchcart, without this charm they created I wouldn't have had the power we needed to distract the Deadly Six. It's odd but I don't even remember fighting them, maybe I'm starting to get the same illness that befell Amy and Hershey.

"We'll see once we check on how they are recovering, then the Herald of Chaos can gain command of the earth elementals. First though Naugus and Witchcart should probably be told their experiment was a success and that they should make similar charms for the other Heralds."

"As you command, my lord."

With a curtsy Fiona turned and left the chamber, after a short walk she came into a room where Witchcart was looking over a bubbling cauldron and Naugus was leaning on a nearby wall where two more teardrop pendants, one green and one blue, were hung.

"I take it Lord Specter was pleased with our gift to you?"

Fiona gave a wicked grin as her eyes became purple again. "Thanks to knowing when to lay low it looks like he bought it hook, line and sinker!"

The blue pendant glowed purple. "Tell me I can finally take possession of MY new vessel!" came a voice from the pendant.

"I'm sure when it's time Specter will tell us Suguna," said Witchcart. "We can't seem too eager."

Now the green pendant glowed. "I still don't like how you these phylacteries you put us in will only work with the Herald who matches our element! If only Naugus' former apprentice had wings!"

Fiona growled. "At least you aren't forced to have the body of a female Nusgau!" Fiona looked over herself awkwardly. "I'm still trying to figure out where I can put my hands without making myself aroused by my own body."

Witchcart groaned as she continued to stir. "Anywhere between your bustline and waist for now. Have you ever dealt with a woman before Agunus?"

"I'm more concerned with your vessel's mind," said Naugus. "As nice as it is to finally have my head back to myself, I know Fiona will not be pleased to find you in hers."

Agunus laughed with Fiona's voice. "Please she's totally clueless, she just thinks she had a blackout! She'll become aware as time goes on, but I've already figured her out. She sees her personality going in one of two ways; one I call the marble view, elegant and beautiful, cut by her experiences into a shape she hopes others find pleasing; the other I call the granite view weathering everything the world threw at her by being cold, harsh and unyielding, this view she wants to put behind her. But I see deep down neither is true, no the stone that fits her best is shale, it looks tough and it might even be beautiful, but it's brittle and cracks easily. Fiona has been cracked so many times and took the other view saying she got it wrong but when I'm through with her she'll see herself as she truly is, and the little shale will never want to come out ever again."

"Perhaps Nusgau can pull something like that off with Geoffrey," said Saguna. "But Lucian has had a relatively happy life, how I am supposed to subdue him into giving me permanent control?"

"You'll have to get into his head," said Naugus. "Perhaps by threatening his lovely new bride. But we need to have the girl check in on the rest of the elite for now. Our little coup within a coup needs perfect timing but when it's over the we'll be the ones ruling the world."

"Alright, I'll let the shale out." Agunus' eyes stopped glowing as his vessel looked like she was suddenly off balance.

"There you have a clean bill of health Fiona," said Witchcart. "No need for me to give you any potions."

"Uh, thank you master Witchcart," Fiona said. She turned and saw the two pendants hanging on the wall. "You're making more charms, one for each of us I take it."

"They aren't ready yet," Naugus. "Why don't we met up with the elite and see if Amy and Hershey are feeling any better?"

"Oh right, thank you again."

Fiona left the room and went to the dining hall that still had elements left over from when their temple was a prison. She was surprised to find that instead of looking ill the other two girls seemed to be devouring a chosen meal with gusto. Next to Amy was a couple of untouched strawberry cupcakes while a couple of jars of pickles and peanut butter were now half empty. Hershey had a raw tuna that was almost as large as she in front of her and was tearing into it like a mobini alley cat. Their husbands stood nearby stupefied.

"When I heard she was sick I thought some of her favorite treats would cheer her up," said Lucian. "But instead one whiff turned her stomach and she just started mixing things together until she found something she liked."

"You alright luv?" Geoffrey came close only for Hershey to hiss at him then get teary eyed.

"I'm SO sorry! I haven't done anything right today! What is happening to us?!"

"I think it is quite clear," Specter said as he came in. "The potions I gave you worked."

"But those potions were a reward," Amy gasped. "Why reward us with something that has side effects this bad?"

"Your condition wasn't caused by the potion itself but rather because of the second and third effects and what those would do to your bodies in turn. You see soon after Cyrus the Conqueror had secured rule of their tribe he and Morgana's hold was still tenuous because the Acorn clan consisted only of the two of them and needed to grow fast. Morgana first concocted that potion to solve that problem in the short time they had and so gave it three effects. The first was as an exceptionally powerful aphrodisiac, which you can clearly attest to, the second increased the fertility of those who imbued the potion even inducing heat into the female to guarantee conception."

Lucian felt his knees give way. "My lord, are you telling me that Amy is pregnant?"

"The grand design has very special roles for your children and you will meet them very soon. The third effect quickens the growth of the child while in the womb, what normally occurs over nine months will instead take days. The intensity of the illness the Heralds of Chaos and Fire is simply the normal side effects of pregnancy on an accelerated timetable and before you ask once they are born the children grow up normally, raising and educating them is another task I have for you. Morgana and Cyrus ended up having sixteen children thanks to this potion leading to a very strong bloodline, your children will do even greater things for Ixis."

"We're having a baby!" Hershey cheered. "We're having a baby!"

"It finally feels like everything we went through is going to be worth it," said Geoffrey.

"Congratulations everyone!" said Fiona.

Naugus growled as Mogul came near. "These children are going to complicate things."

"Perhaps," Mogul said before thinking to himself. _"I better keep an eye on this, if Specter is playing the long game than so will I."_

"We're going to be parents," said Lucian. "I still can't believe it."

Amy was feeling bewildered. "This is all happening so fast, I…I didn't think I'd be a mother so soon, but I do want this. Sonic and everyone will see that this all really is for the best," Amy turned to her own stomach and began to cradle it. "When that happens, I can't for them to meet you, my baby."

* * *

Marine's fists were shaking, it was just her, Blaze, Silver and Gold in the room that night and they made sure no one else was listening. "That…that's so horrible!"

"I understand if you don't want to help us," said Blaze. "But if we don't let these things happen our home will be a much different place. Marine you can't tell ANYBODY about this, not the people back home, not Sonic, not Ray, nobody."

"I…get it and I'll help you, it's only because of all that rotten stuff that we were able to be friends at all. But it's not just the people here who got hurt by this, you all could have had normal happy lives with your families but instead you had nothing. As young as I was when I lost 'em I still remember mum and dad, but you blokes don't even have that. Now there's a chance you can get back what you should have, you could just wait until the right moment to act, but you can't do it without hurtin' a lot of people. That's just not who you ya are sis, that's not who any of you are."

"I hadn't even thought about it," said Silver. "Guess I'm still naïve, but no the price of a ruined future is too high."

"It won't be long," said Gold. "But the closer we get to our goal the more the Freedom Fighters will suffer. But there's something else I'm worried about, the way Amy, Hershey and Fiona couldn't even see or hear us, or remember anything we were involved in has convinced be beyond a doubt, the Interloper is somehow connected to the Order of Ixis, but I still can't figure out how."

"You think it's Specter?" asked Blaze.

"Perhaps, but what he's trying to and what happened don't seem to match up. The Interloper set up a totalitarian regime, Specter is either ensuring the domination of a cult or the release of a malevolent god, neither of which seemed to have happened by the two hundred years the Imperium was in control of. We only found one piece of the puzzle; we don't know how it fits with Sonic's death."

"Heck we don't even know what the picture is supposed to look like," said Silver. "All we know is that the top priority is keeping Sonic alive, if he survives the attempt on his life then we win."

"In that case we better get some rack time," said Marine. "Specter now has two of the elemental essences while we got one safe, tomorrow everybody and their gran will be looking for the Air essence. I wouldn't be surprised if your interloper makes his move then.

"You guys go ahead," said Blaze. "I still have to keep watch on Sonic."

"Right, night sis."

Blaze left but after a couple of blocks she stopped. Her past was always a mystery to her but now she knew where she came from, after a few moments the princess and mistress of the sol emeralds did something she never recalled doing in her entire life, she broke down crying.

A/N: Whip is the OC of Cylent-Nite, check out their awesome artwork here. cylent-nite


	16. Babylon Drive

Chapter 15

Babylon Drive

Snively walked down the hall nervously, his fingers drumming on the datapad that had his proposal. Viktor knowing about a coup with the Order of Ixis was one thing, allowing him to help was another. The chance to finish off Sonic was the most insisting part but for what Regina wanted Snivley would have to convince Robotnick that he should be the one to lead the operation, something Viktor would doubt he could pull off.

He came to the room Phage marked Viktor was currently in, one he would have never expected to find a Robotnick before, the gym. The door opened and he found Viktor and Lilith across from each other in white gi and between them to the side was a modified drone. The two villains bowed to each other.

"Yoi," the drone said.

Viktor and Lilith then moved from a bow to a fighting stance.

"Hajime!"

At the drone's word the two began making punches and kicks at each other. Most were blocked or dodged but then Lilith saw a chance to grab Viktor's ankle and from there he was on the ground with her ready to deliver a blow to his face.

"Yame!"

Lilith let go allowing Viktor to stand.

"You're getting better," the scientist said. "That was the first round you won."

"Would you rather she let you win?" asked Snively. "That's what your predecessors would have me do."

"If you did that, I'd fire you, out of cannon if it was to suck up to me."

Snively gulped. "Noted."

"So, what brings you here?" Lilith asked.

Snively handed over the datapad. "I have an operation that requires your approval and halt on advancement to a small area in order to complete it. If successful it that would allow us to further the coup attempt within the Order of Ixis to our favor. I would also like to request to lead the operation."

Lilith read over the mission. "The area in question we can momentarily reallocate the forces in that area to support the main offensive in that zone and the equipment you have requested shouldn't affect our current operations, provided you select robots on standby with a resource allocation value below D."

"But D is what we give to non-essential drones and war machines scheduled for decommissioning, what could be lower than that?"

Viktor smirked. "You should know, you brought them onboard."

Snively began to feel his knees knock. "The Super Special Sonic Search and Smash Squad?"

"This seems to be a low stakes mission, a way to give the Order some money and thus a way we can make them think we still trust them. But I can tell the real reason, you're getting a little stir crazy staying on board this ship and you're hoping this will let you spend time with your girlfriend, so if it makes you feel better you can do this, we can find out if this supposed uprising against Specter is the real deal, but I can't allow you to risk actual military assets on this little day out."

"But Regina also said this could be our big chance to eliminate Sonic the Hedgehog, permanently! To that end I was hoping to borrow the Neo Metal Series."

"If the Hedgehog is involved, he'll suspect a trap as soon as he sees this," Viktor then flicked Snively's nose. "I can't pull the Metal Series from active combat on such short notice, just try to succeed on the primary objective. As for Sonic I will be spending that time testing a prototype that in combination with our forces should take care of him and any other annoyance. The S6 should provide enough of a distraction for the order to pull off whatever hocus pocus they plan."

"But Doctor…"

"My decision is final. I suggest you prepare yourself and the S6 for your mission, but I'm not expecting miracles."

Snively slumped his shoulders as he began to leave the gym. "Neither am I."

Once the henchman was out the door Lilith raised an eyebrow. "You still haven't picked a testing ground for the prototypes, if Sonic is going to be there why not use them there and see what they are really made of? Plus, he'll never see it coming if even Snively doesn't know."

Viktor gave a playful smirk. "Every day you remind me that you're nearly as smart as I am."

Lilith smirked back "Our last match would say it's more than nearly."

"Then how about another round to know for sure?"

The two Ai controlled super humans went back to the mat as the Drone resumed its task.

"Yoi, Hajime!"

* * *

The Sky Patrol had landed in the meadow being careful not to disturb the young trees that began sprouting in the area. For many it was a still a hard sight to bear, for most of their lives this place Knothole, was home, and after so many attempts by Robotnick it was finally wiped of the map by Eggman. Nature had begun to take the place back, the blasted crater was now covered in grass and saplings began to sprout, it felt right that no matter what their enemies threw at Knothole it would always grow back. But it still felt somber, in large part because of what they came here to do.

Sally was leading most of the team, plus Gold and Silver, to the edge of the clearing and they crossed into the woods just outside the limits of the old city. "It was about here…" She then noticed an old tree stump between two pine trees. "That's it, that's where we first met."

Rotor took out a familiar looking handheld computer with tears in his eyes. "I never thought when I made this as a backup for Nicole it would turn out to be her original handheld." He looked back at the device. "Are you sure you're ok with this Nikki? There's nothing else you want to do before you go?"

"It's been a wonderful month Dad," said Nikki who was now practically undistinguishable from Nicole back in the day. "Visiting Iceborough with Mom and meeting Grandma and Uncle Skeeter, going to that Forget-me-Knots concert, letting me fly the Sky Patrol here all by myself, it's been fun…but it had to end sometime."

"I know, but it doesn't make letting go any easier."

"Dad, I'm…still going to be here, just a little older, a little wiser…"

"And I can't let you know that. That's the real hard part, I knew it would necessary to lock your early memories away and you'd have to lose your body until you make it your own, but you can't know what is really going to happen you, that, you're going to become mortal like us. The temptation to change that would be strong, maybe too strong, and it might end up keeping you from helping us stop the gene bombs. I'm afraid those memories are never coming back, at least not until you're on the other side of them."

"Is that why you treated me to so much?"

"It feels like… finding out your child has a terminal illness, and even without the becoming a physical being thing, after this…you won't be Nikki anymore."

"That's not true, even if I can't remember I'll always be your Nikki deep inside." Now it looked like it was Nikki's turn to cry. "Thank you all for seeing me off, you've been as much of family to me as Dad is. I understand why the future me didn't want to leave the Sky Patrol, but I still wish she was still here."

"She gave you some good advice when you said your goodbyes," said Sally. "And from what I remember about our time together you'll follow it."

Tails produced an orange gem from a bag. "Time stone's ready, all that's really left is to make the final changes to Nikki's program."

Sonic put a hand on Rotor's shoulder. "If it's too hard for you I could…"

Rotor shook his head. "No, I knew this had to happen from the beginning, it's got to be me." He turned back to the handheld. "Ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," Nikki said with a teary smile. Rotor pushed a few buttons and the image of Nikki wavered then disappeared, a second later a single line passed through the middle of the screen. "I'll see you all a few years in the past." Nikki said as the line moved to her vocalization.

"And we'll see you again in a few minutes," said Sally. "So, you have that to look forward to."

The time stone glowed in Tail's hand as he set it down on the stump. A flash of light later and the handheld vanished leaving the stone behind.

Rotor sank to his knees and softly sobbed, Sally put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "You and Nicole should have a long talk about this, the trip back to Little Planet to return the time stone should be long enough."

"Thank you," the walrus said with a smile. After wiping his tears, the team made their way back to the Sky Patrol. "We can have it over lunch, Nikki always wondered what ice cream tasted like and Nicole loves it.

"Sounds good to me," said Silver. "Is Sonic making chili dogs or is Antoine going to whip up one of those fancy meals he likes?"

Sally suddenly looked determined. "Actually, I'll be cooking for everyone today."

Antione and Sonic moved in front of the princess. "In that case maybe we should all go with a healthy salad or cold cut sandwiches would be nice…"

Sally growled at Sonic. "I'm making clam chowder, that should be simple enough without slapping together whatever's in the fridge. I know what you're trying but I WILL make up for last night."

"Are we missing something?" asked Gold.

Bunnie sighed. "Sally Girl went to the Hedgehogs' place last night and made dinner for them after she asked Twan to give her cooking lessons. Neither…went very well."

"That was a fluke, I've done my part in the kitchen before," said Sally. "Miss Rosie made sure everyone in Knothole contributed in the day to day running of the place, including kitchen duty."

"What did she let you cook?" asked Silver.

Sally began to tick off a count on her fingers. "Scrambled eggs, macaroni and cheese, peanut butter and jelly…"

"Uh, those are all meals kids can make," said Tails. "What did you try to make Sonic last night?"

"I was cooking a pot roast with potatoes and carrots. I admit the roast was burnt and the veggies came out a bit overdone, but it was an improvement over my first attempt."

"Which set my beautiful kitchen on fire," grumbled Antione. "Now we need a new stove."

"Well I say give her another chance," said Rotor as they came in sight of the Sky Patrol. "We'll be there to help her and after saying goodbye to Nikki, fighting a war against Robotnick and the Order of Ixis having two of these elemental beings they're after if the worst we have to deal with is bad cooking then…"

Suddenly the aircraft roared to life and began to rise.

"Why is Nicole leaving without us?!" yelled Silver.

"She wouldn't," said Sonic. "Which means somebody's jacking our ride!"

Sonic dashed ahead and got through the hatch just before it closed, the mobile base began moving too fast and too high for the rest of the team to catch up.

"No!" yelled Rotor. "Come back, Nikki!"

* * *

Sonic went straight to the bridge and peeked in. Nicole, Chip and Whip were all tied up next to the captain's chair and at the helm sat a Raven girl with yellow eyes and wearing a violet hooded jacket along with a many pouched belt as well as a headset she was talking into with a cockney accent.

"The plan worked like a charm. I should be getting to the rendezvous point any moment now."

Sonic moved at blinding speed, first untying Nicole and the gaias' bonds, using the same rope to tie up the raven then hitting a button causing the ship to slow down and hover in place.

"Oi! What's this?!" As she fell to the floor the earpiece came off and from under the jacket a gold medallion came lose that depicted an Arabian style lamp shaped like a bird spewing clouds.

"Corva?!" came a familiar voice on the earpiece. "What was that?! What's your status?!"

Sonic spoke into mic on the earpiece. "Her status is buttkicked, which is what you're going to be soon Jet."

On the bridge of his airship the green hawk laughed. "I guess Corva's stealth and Wave's planning weren't a match for your speed after all. But If you'll look through your viewport, you'll find you've gotten out of the frying pan and into the fire."

Sonic looked through the large window and saw the red and gold airship of the Babylon Rouges dead ahead.

"We have our weapons trained on you, so let our newest member go and we'll call it even. You better answer quickly, Storm is very… protective of our little raven. So, what do you say?"

The only answer they had was the Sky Patrol firing a large cannon followed by the ship shaking.

"The hard way it is then, Wave target their engines so we can bring them down without hurting Corva in the process…"

"I can't!" said Wave.

Muscular albatross towered the inventive swallow. "If you have to hurt Corva…!"

"No, I mean all our weapons have been knocked out!"

"In one shot!?" squawked Jet.

"Nope," Sonic said from the door. "That cannon just shot me over and I took out all your guns myself."

Jet pulled out a pair of fans made of green feathers. "Well played but now it's three on one AND I'm armed with my Bashōsen!"

Suddenly Sonic ran around them in a circle blindly fast and soon a sudden tornado threw the rouges against the ceiling before they fell back to the floor.

"It's over," said Sonic as he put his foot on Jet's fans. "Now here's my counteroffer, once Nicole brings Sally and the others back with the Sky Patrol, you're going to join your little blackbird as we explain why you shouldn't take things that don't belong to you."

Jet made an angry growl.

* * *

After picking up the rest to the Freedom Fighters they gathered in the sky Patrol's rec room with the Babylon Rouges being closely watched on the couch. Rotor and Nicole stopped a conversation they were having when Sally turned to the band of thieves.

"Trying to steal a military grade airship, I hope you realize just how much trouble you're in."

"We stole plenty of stuff," said Wave. "It was just something a bit bigger than usual this time."

"I'm talking about your current situation, allow me to jog your memory. During the Phantom Ruby War Infinite had subjugated and brainboxed the Battle Bird Armada, once that happened the Babylon Rouges were marked to be arrested on sight throughout Mobius. You turned to the Resistance to keep from getting brainboxed yourselves and had been part of several successful missions, including destroying Heavy Rider. When the war ended the Battle Bird Armada found itself surrounded by the Resistance air fleet and was forced to surrender, Great Battle Kukku the XV, his son Speedy and the scientist Dr. Fukurokov were arrested and are serving time in prison, the armada was disbanded permanently. For your aid you were given amnesty for past crimes like most legionnaires with the same caveat that this amnesty would be revoked if you committed another crime. Your little stunt means that you're going to be put on trial for every crime you ever committed and almost certainly be sentenced to a long prison term."

"I still think those terms were too restrictive," said Jet. "We couldn't do anything we were used to, since when was treasure hunting a crime?"

"What you, Rouge, Nicolette and Fiona call treasure hunting most nations call grave robbing."

"What about your pal Knuckles? He did his fare share of 'treasure hunting'."

"Only to retrieve echidna relics that as a Guardian was his duty to safeguard, so he's more of a treasure protector. Last I checked the Sky Patrol wasn't the ancient property of the Babylonians."

"We weren't going to keep this bucket," said Storm. "Just hide it from Sonic until the race was over."

Jet growled. "Sure, tell them all our plans!"

Sonic came towards Jet. "What race?"

The Rouges looked shocked. "You didn't even know?! We planned all of this for nothing?!"

Tails sighed. "What a waste, if this thing is an Extreme Gear race, you'd have probably won it if you played fair, instead you won't be able to compete in it or any other race for a long time."

"I still want to know what race you're talking about," said Sonic.

Wave turned to Sally. "Can we use your tv for a couple of minutes?"

After Sally nodded Wave was watched closely as she fiddled with the big screen opposite the couch. The tv shown a teal hedgehog woman with blue tipped quills at what looked like a set of ruins with a desert off in the distance. "Attention all Extreme Gear pros!" she said. "Breezie the Hedgehog here to remind you time's running out to register for Studiopolis TV's event of the year, the Babylonian Cup sponsored by Mammoth Enterprises! Taking place at the remains of an ancient civilization that until a recent massive sandstorm had been buried in Dune Valley Zone, the Babylonian Cup offers the most intense Extreme Gear challenge to date. How intense is it? I'm near the starting gate, the edge of a massive twenty-story tower that beforehand was completely buried by the sands. Racers have to handle a two-hundred-foot dive and that's just the beginning of the race!"

Bunnie fumed. "Finding an ancient ruin and instead of treating it with respect she's using it as a racecourse. Can she get any tackier?"

The advertisement then cut to Breezie inside of some sort of shrine as she posed in front of a trophy as it was being topped with an ancient looking brass lamp that looked like the symbol of the Babylon Rouges. "Whoever wins this race will walk away with the Babylonian Cup and one and a half million Mobiums in prize money!"

"Oui," said Antione. "By taking an ancient relic and sticking it on a chintzy trophy."

"Registration can be done over the Infonet, but space is running out and the deadline is midnight tonight! The green flag will be waved tomorrow at noon sharp so if you want to join you better hurry before this chance is gone with the wind!"

Sonic shook his head. "As much as I'd have liked to kick your tailfeathers in a race we're a little busy to…"

"Wait!" Whip suddenly shouted. "Can you replay the part where they showed that, trophy as you called it?"

Tails looked confused. "Yeah, but why…?"

"Please," Chip interrupted. "I felt the same thing she did, and if it is what I think it is we have to be sure."

Tails rewound the image and paused it on the trophy.

"Hmm," Whip said as she came closer to the screen. "It's faint since this is just a recording, but I feel a powerful essence coming from that object they put on top of it. At first I thought it might have been my essence but now I can tell it's something different yet also oddly familiar."

Corva now compared the lamp to her medallion. "Wait, if those are the ruins of the city of Babylon and the Tower of Babel then could the legends be true? Did that woman really find the Lamp of Angelus?"

Sally stood between the tv and the Rouges. "Listen carefully because your freedom could very well depend on it. What is the Lamp of Angelus?"

"Nothin'," said Storm. "It's an old wives' tale, a story that old timers used to tell hatchlings to explain urges that are just…what did Wave call 'em? Oh yeah, holdovers from when our ancestors were mobini."

"I thought the Babylonians came from space," said Gold. "At least from what I read."

"The Babylonians did spend a long-time using Babylon Garden to travel the galaxy and grow their treasure hold," said Wave. "But they came from Mobius originally and were stranded when they returned home once the Cosmic Ark began to become unstable. The ancient Babylonians were just as Mobian as all of us."

"And if Babylon Garden and the Cosmic Ark were real," interrupted Corva. "Then the Lamp of Angelus ain't that much of a stretch."

"We fought Angelus before you joined," said Jet. "He was just a holographic defense system the ancient Babylonians left to protect the key to Babylon Garden."

"Or they based the hologram on the real Angelus!"

Sonic impatiently tapped his foot. "We're still waiting for an answer!"

Corva sighed. "Well, this is what me Gran told me when I was little. A long time ago, even before Babylon Garden, nearly all the Mobian birds had the gift of flight thanks to their wings. The other tribes were jealous of this gift and chased them away. In time the disparate bird species came together, they flew high into clouds in search of a land to call their own and it was in the skies they found Angelus.

"Angelus, also known as the Gatekeeper and the Guardian of Babylon, was a great spirit of the air, at times fierce as lightning but he could also be as gentle as a caressing breeze. He took pity on the birds and guided them to the middle of a great desert where there was a vast oasis filled with pure water, luscious fruit and plentiful game. 'This is your home now' he told them 'I give you the name of a great people long since passed, from this day forth this land shall be known as Babylon and you are the Babylonians'.

"The Babylonians worshiped Angelus as their patron deity, they built a city around the oasis and a temple that reached into the sky called the Tower of Babel. But Angelus wasn't the type to stay in one place for very long, he came and went from Babylon as he pleased and for a time it was a paradise. But one day while Angelus was away a stranger came to Babylon offering knowledge and powerful gifts, all the Babylonians had to do in return was take the wealth and weapons of the stranger's enemies. The Babylonians took the offer and began to steal from all but the stranger's allies, confident that even the greatest armies wouldn't be able to chase them through the desert they simply flew over. Greed and pride took hold in their hearts, but then Angelus returned.

"The sky god was as furious as the storm. 'I gave you clean water and bountiful food, yet you still want more, I gave you a home safe from your enemies and you use it to hoard the belongings of others! But you are my children, all will be forgiven if you return what you stole.' The Babylonians were unrepentant, confident that the stranger's gifts made them even mightier than their god. They used those gifts to seal Angelus away in a lamp they kept within the tower they once worshiped him in. But just before he was sealed Angelus placed a curse on Babylon and its people, within a day the oasis dried up, a week after that a fierce sandstorm had swallowed up the city burying even the mighty Tower of Babel. But worst of all as the Babylonians began wandering again their wings started to wither away, cutting them off from the sky forever.

"Angered at Angelus for taking the one thing that made them special the Babylonians again turned to the stranger's gifts and built new ways to take to the air without their wings so they could continue stealing. Ultimately, they made Babylon Garden and flew to the stars in search of more to steal, but it was never enough to replace what they lost. Their amassed treasures began to feel meaningless and so the Babylonians returned to Mobius and went their separate ways. Ever since their descendants took their place among the people of Mobius, each trying to find the answer to the question that drove the Babylonians ever since they lost their gift."

Corva took a longing gaze at both her medallion and the back of her arm. "What are we without the sky?"

"But we haven't lost the sky," said Wave. "Between Extreme Gear, airships and other tech we can fly just as well, if not better than if we did have wings, heck every generation has genetic throwbacks like Predator Hawk who CAN fly!"

"Did you ever see some of the dirty looks the rest of the grunts gave 'em?!" snapped Corva. "Most of 'em were jealous of what that creep could do!"

"She doesn't know what she's talking about," said Jet. "Corva only joined the Rouges nine months ago…"

"I know exactly what I'm talking about! The Armada, the Rouges, even the birds in places like Freedom City are living a lie! We were hatched for more!" The raven then began to cry.

The Freedom Fighters began to move in on Corva when Storm put a big hand on her shoulder. "Corva, what's wrong? You can tell me that, you can tell me anything."

Corva sniffed. "Remember when we were blasted by the gene bombs? I became as dumb as doorknobs but as a Mobini I had wings."

"Yeah, we all did."

"Whenever we weren't eatin' or sleepin' we flew, we were so happy just flitting through the air not a care in the world, then we were changed back. I'm glad I got me marbles back wouldn't wish otherwise, but I remember what it was like to fly under my own power. It just felt right, then it was ripped away, I never understood me what gran's stories meant until then. I can sneak in anywhere with no one knowing and pinch whatever I want, I could nick every jewel, coin and Mobium in the world and it still wouldn't be worth as much flying through the air with nothing but the wind beneath my wings. What are we without the sky? Absolutely nothin'."

Storm tilted Corva's beak so she was looking at his eyes. "Not to me, if I got wings and you didn't, I'd give them up for you if I could."

Corva wiped her tears away. "I'm so glad I got soultouched with you, ya big lug."

"Storm has a girlfriend?" Sonic said surprised.

Wave grabbed Jet's hand with a giggle. "He's not the only one."

Jet blushed. "Let's wait to talk about that until after we find out what that lamp has to do with us staying out of jail."

Sally looked at the Freedom Fighters. "An imprisoned sky god with who can summon storms powerful enough to bury a city in the desert for thousands of years? Sounds like a prime candidate for the Essence of Air to me. Not only that the play the Society of the Great Illumination performed implies that it was Morgana Acorn who was the stranger in that story AND the company sponsoring the race is owned by Mammoth Mogul. If the Order of Ixis hasn't figured out this lamp has one of essences they're looking for yet, then they will soon."

Sonic smirked. "I get it, we're going to enter the race, win that lamp and keep it out of Masquerade's grubby hands!"

"That's plan B, for plan A I'd like to convince this Breezie woman to just let us have the lamp without letting her know what it really is, but I'm not getting my hopes up."

"What if her boss tells her to just give the lamp to the Order regardless of who wins the race?" asked Rotor.

Sally sighed. "Then we go to plan C."

Nicole raised an eyebrow. "And what's plan C?"

Sally turned to the Babylon Rouges. "We help you do what you do best. I'm willing to ignore Corva's little joyride with the Sky Patrol, but on the condition that you help us secure the lamp. The more entrants we have in the race the more likely we'll be to win it, but if things go south, we may have to steal the lamp to keep it from Specter. Consider yourselves drafted into the Freedom Fighters."

Jet moved to over to Sally. "Alright you can have the trophy, at least I get a chance to beat Sonic in a race."

"Don't count on it," said the Blue Blur.

"I'm in but I disagree with this plan," said Corva. "You're missing the obvious solution, if that is the Lamp of Angelus then we have to set him free! Then maybe, he'll see our people have changed and he'll give us our wings back."

"That sounds like the worst idea," said Silver. "Whenever one of these hyper energy organisms has been released it usually means widescale destruction. Look what happened with Iblis, Chaos, Dark Gaia..." Silver turned to Whip. "No offence."

"None taken," said Whip as she crossed her arms in a huff. "But only because you all seem to have failed to spot the pattern with the three of us, a pattern which applies to Angelus too."

Tails answered first. "And that pattern is?"

Whip glared at everyone. "The annoying tendency of cells like you to treat gods like us with such flagrant disrespect! Eggman forced me to awaken before my time and instead of an orderly destruction that would aid creation I lashed out as if I was trapped in a nightmare! Echidna sought the Super Emeralds under Chaos' protection to use as a weapon and he destroyed their civilization! Iblis, a being I recognize as a nascent god, was unwittingly thrown together with a malevolent alien intelligence by ignorant human scientists when they tried to make a god as they envisioned it instead of letting Iblis form itself naturally! Angelus had offered mercy to the Babylonians and they sealed him away in their arrogance bringing his judgement down on their heads! You play with fire then wonder why you get burned, but then again it seems to be a lesson that takes longer to learn than your meager lifespans allow. But this girl has an inkling of the right idea, justice demands Angelus must be released."

"You have a point, he was treated unfairly," said Sally. "But freeing Angelus won't stop the Order of Ixis from trying to take his power for their own. If we free Angelus and they go after him another city could suffer the same fate as Babylon. Until we stop Specter and determine what freeing Angelus would do it would be safer to keep the lamp and the Black Emerald somewhere secure."

Whip growled. "You're trying to control who has control of a god, it's like you weren't listening at all!"

"Angelus helped the Babylonians once so he sounds like someone I can reason with," said Chip. "I'm sure I can get him to see their descendants have changed for the better, but he could be captured like Iblis or drained of his power like Whip and I were. I'm going to convince him that he must stay put until the danger has passed and hopefully, he'll forgive the Babylonians once he is released."

"Looks like we have a plan," said Sally. "Nicole get on the Infonet and try to register at least three spots in the race for our team, preferably four or five but as many as you can. Tails, once our new 'friends' get back on their ship and we drop off the time stone, get us to Dune Valley Zone as fast as the Sky Patrol can take us."

"We're already registered so the Babylon Rouges are good to go!" Jet beamed.

Wave raised her hand. "I could whip up some modifications for your Extreme Gear too, it might give us all an edge."

Sally nodded. "Only if they fit in with the rules of the race. Freedom Fighters need to keep a positive image, so we win fairly or not at all."

"And if you don't win the Rouges steal the lamp for you and you keep your squeaky-clean image," grumbled Storm.

"I'd rather not steal it, but the fate of the world is probably at stake. We can't take options off the table at this point."

Tails began to move out. "If we leave now should get to Dune Valley Zone by the end of the day. Then we can talk with Breezie before dinner and a good night's sleep."

"We better get back to our ship then," said Corva.

Sonic pointed at the Rogues. "In that case I'll see you at the finish line."

Jet pointed back. "Yeah, when I get there first!"

Bunnie came up to Sally. "You don't think Sonic and Jet's rivalry will…"

"It can be a problem," said Sally. "But it could also push them into first place, so we'll let the boys have their fun for now."

Everyone had left except Chip and Whip. "You're only going to hurt yourself you know," said the sprite like dragon.

Chip turned back. "What do you mean?"

"This connection with those cells you made."

Chip turned to her frustrated. "They're people, not cells and this connection is called friendship."

"We are going to live as long this planet does, by comparison their lives are infinitesimal, a subatomic section of the great expanse of time. Now you're enjoying another romp with this Sonic but one day he will die while we'll still have billions of years before us, billions of years in which you'll miss him. Despite our different natures I don't want to see you hurt. We're not friends, we're not siblings, we're two halves of a greater whole, what you feel I can feel, and I don't want to feel you being sad for eons."

Chip sighed. "I might have lost my memory while you were in your nightmare, but once I got it back and I knew I had to leave Sonic still wanted to see the journey to the end. I realized a lot of things then, but one was that death isn't really the end for them. They leave a legacy, one that is taken up by those who will come next. Sonic made his mark on this world and he'll keep making his mark on those who come after him as will everyone else. Maybe a single life is fleeting but together it's like they never left at all."

"So, your friendship with Sonic is going to be your friendship with the living things of this planet as a whole?"

"Yeah you could say that."

Whip shrugged her shoulders. "Well if you want a pet, I suppose your options are limited."

Chip smiled. "Alright we're making progress, sort of."

* * *

That evening the Rouge's airship and the Sky Patrol had parked near the ruins in the desert. As the Freedom Fighters came into the ruins, they noticed several people were starting to settle down in tents for the night. While there were quite a few racing enthusiasts and they noticed just as many others, mostly Mobian birds, were displaying protest signs saying things like "Free Babylon" or "Our history is not your finish line".

Jet noticed a few angry glares. "Huh, I guess there were more people like Corva's grandmother than I thought."

Sonic looked around at the crumbling architecture, from seeing buildings with the only entries big enough to go in and out on elevated floors he could see it being occupied by a people who could fly. "If this really is Babylon, I'm surprised its discovery didn't make the news."

"There hasn't been enough conclusive evidence one way or the other," said Nicole. "I've read up the situation on the Infonet, archaeologists want to come in and examine the ruins more closely but can't because this whole zone is disputed territory between the GUN forces at Shamar and the Robotnick Ascendancy. I'm surprised this race was allowed at all; the way the frontlines shift around here these ruins could become a battlefield really easily."

"Well Mammoth Mogul has some really deep pockets," said Wave. "There had to bribes somewhere."

"The fighting around here is all the more reason I hope plan A works," said Sally. "If we can get Breezie to give the lamp then maybe we get her to call off this race and get all these civilians to evacuate."

Jet shook his head. "With all the money she already sunk into this race, fat chance."

"We won't know unless we try, where can we find her?"

"There's supposed to be a pre-race party starting soon that she's hosting," said Tails. "Racers and VIP spectators are supposed to be in attendance, it's off limits to everyone else."

"How many spots did we get?" asked Sonic.

"Four, we got the last spots," said Rotor. "The registration process was suspiciously easy, no proof for experience needed, no qualifying run, just a valid ID and a small entry fee. To give us the best chance You, Tails, Sally and Silver are our racers and with the Babylon Rouges our total team is at eight."

"How many are participating in total?" asked Sally.

"Normally an Extreme Gear race has about eight to ten participants but this one brought on three times the field at thirty."

"Which means all things being equal we have just over a one in four chance of winning, I was hoping for better odds than that."

"Actually, I looked up zhe odds from Casino Night Zone," said Antione. "Once Sonic signed up, he became zhe odds-on favorite to win at two to one with Jet coming close at two and a half to one, everyone seems to think it will be one of zhe two of you."

"Which means we got this in the bag," bragged Sonic. "We just have to make sure the Pick-a-Card club doesn't pull any funny business then once we hide the Wind and Water Essences all we have to worry about is finding what rock Masquerade is hiding under."

"That does make me feel better," said Sally. "What are my odds?"

Antione went through the listing. "Sadly, your near zhe bottom along with…" the coyote's eyes widened. "We have a new problem, Geoffrey and Lucian are in the race!"

Tails' namesakes began to twitch. "They're probably here on Specter's orders, which means he knows about Angelus."

"Zhat's not all, we have three more unwelcome participants. Scratch, Coconuts and Snively have entered as well."

Sonic felt his jaw drop. "So, have to deal the flunkies of Masquerade AND Mr. Perfect?!"

Sally gave a hard look at the tower. "Not if we can shut this race down, the racing team has a party to attend. Bunnie, Niccole, Antione, Rotor, Gold, since you guys aren't racing, I have two important jobs for you. Your top priority to try to find where the lamp is and make sure the Order and Robotnick don't take it, Chip and Whip seem to be able to sense it so take them along. The second job is actually an extension of the first, I wouldn't be surprised if either the Order or Robotnick's plan to get the lamp is to win it by cheating, you can't interfere in the race but if they try it interfere with them."

Bunnie winked. "Like Uncle Beau says, 'cheaters never prosper, but they always get a bionic boot up the backside'!"

Sally gave a confident smile. "Good. Alright racers, let's go meet out hostess."

The four entered the base of the tower which was a shrine that was decked out to host a small gala. While there were many people dressed in formal outfits there were also many dressed in their whatever was their preferred racing attire was. Once the Freedom Fighters and Babylon Rouges came in a several cameras turned in their direction either snapping photos or recording their every move.

They spotted the trophy they saw on tv and Breezie was standing next to it waving to them. "And the favorites are here at last! I was afraid you wouldn't even sign up Sonic."

"Freedom Fighters are always willing to go that extra mile for a good cause," Sally said. "We're partnering up with the Babylon Rouges and all prize money both teams win in this race will be donated to the Julayla Memorial War Orphans fund."

"Sonic the Hedgehog and Jet the Hawk!" Breeize said to the cameras. "Two rivals in speed putting aside their differences for good of the children!"

The crowd erupted in applause.

"We agreed you could keep the lamp!" Jet angrily whispered to Sally. "You never said anything about giving up the money!"

"Just giving plan A the best chance of succeeding," Sally whispered back to him. "You'll get a reasonable compensation once the mission's over, considering you could go to jail instead." Sally then turned back to Breezie. "Sadly, as much I want to make the lives of those orphans easier my first responsibility to ensure the safety of the people. When I signed up I didn't know that the region was in dispute and continuing this race would endanger the lives of the participants and spectators, I have to ask to cancel it before Robotnick's forces can launch an attack."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that," Snivley said as he, Scratch and Coconuts came forward from the other party goers. In addition to his usual green jacket he was also wearing an old-fashioned aviator's cap with googles and a long orange scarf. "They wouldn't attack while we were here."

Sonic stood right up to the diminutive overlander. "Nice to see you Needlenose, your prison cell's been lonely without you."

Sally turned back to Breezie. "Ms. Hedgehog, I insist that these three be disqualified and this…war criminal be arrested!"

"Try it," said Snively. "We're being watched and if it looks like I am in danger all it would take would be for my allies to call a Code Cyrano and a squadron of Neo Swats will be here in seconds to secure me, putting those civilians you care about in the line of fire."

"He and my former employees have agreed to be on their best behavior," said Breezie. "No one's in danger, pending another sandstorm the race is still on."

"In other words, I'm untouchable," Snively waved a filled glass under Sally's nose. "Champagne?"

Sally grabbed the glass and splashed its contents all over Snively's face before turning back to Breezie "Very well, but I noticed you are using a Babylonian relic as part of the trophy…"

"Let me guess, either the protestors want it or 'it belongs in a museum'. Tell you what, you can donate that lamp to whoever you want, if you win it of course, if not take it up with whoever does."

"I don't need it," said Snively as he wiped his face. "But I think I'll keep it just so you won't have it."

Sonic pointed at Snively. "I don't know what your game is, but now that I'm here it's over."

"Now, now," Geoffrey said as he and Lucian came up. "Save it for the race, we're all here just to have some good clean fun, aren't we?"

"Yes," Snively turned as he, Scratch and Coconuts began to leave. "Good clean fun."

"Fun?" said Sonic. "I thought you'd be spreading the good news of Ixis or whatever you call it."

"That too," said Lucian. "But as busy as we're going to be soon Geoffrey and I thought we'd give this race a try, besides one and a half million Mobiums is a heck of a college fund."

"Going to be busy? College fund?" asked Tails.

"Might as well tell you the good news now," said Geoffrey. He then clapped Lucian on the shoulder as they gave each other a very prideful smile. "Our wives are both pregnant, you're looking at a pair of proud soon to be papas."

Sonic was wide-eyed. "You and Amy just got married and she's already having a baby?! I can't believe these words are about to come out of my mouth but aren't you going too fast?!"

"Ixis has blessed us," said Lucian. "If he wills that it is time that we have a child who are we to argue?"

"Well congratulations, I guess," said Sally. "I wish we were on better terms with each other, but after Amy, Hershey and Fiona left us in Nerberhood just as Naugus made his move with the Font of Gaia I think it's clear that you're all working for Specter now. Tell your master this, we'll do everything in our power to make sure you never get the Lamp of Angelus."

Geoffrey shrugged. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"The lamp on the trophy," said Corva. "He's inside it."

She pointed to a painting on the wall depicting a purple genie-like creature with a feathered vest over his powerful looking chest, gold bands on the wrists of his muscular arms, what looked like feathers on his head and a tornado like tail that went from the waist down.

"Not very friendly looking," said Silver.

"Not very friendly looking," said Lucian.

Sonic looked annoyed. "Uh, Silver just said that,"

"Who?" asked Geoffrey. "Never mind, believe what you want let's just have a good clean race tomorrow."

"We will, as long as you don't forget."

A soft chime echoed through speakers set up in the converted shrine as Breezie rang a fork against a glass. "Attention all racers, it's finally time to reveal the full course for tomorrow's race!" everyone gathered as she motioned to a monitor. "As mentioned in our most recent advertisement immediately after the starting gate you'll drop down a two-hundred-foot incline to the base of this very tower but keep sharp because soon after that you'll need to make the first major turn. The next section will take you through the old market, it'll be tricky to navigate the series of pillars here while maintaining momentum. After the second major turn racers will go through the winding streets of the city to the third turn, in the middle of this section is a dry lakebed where you'll have nothing to worry about, except that is your fellow competitors. Once you pass the third turn, you'll go up and down a series of sand dunes before making the fourth turn back towards the tower, where you'll take a spiral path around the tower to a final hairpin turn leading to a straight away at the top. Once the last racer finishes their second lap the last straight away will extend moving the finish line from one edge to the other so the first racer to get to the top of the tower on lap three will be the winner of the Babylonian Cup and one and half million Mobiums!"

The party erupted into applause as cheers came from outside, as the crowd heard the broadcast.

"Now let's go over the rules one last time, all Extreme Gear must follow standard racing specifications, we're trying to see who's the best racer, not who has the best gear. Rescue drones will be on standby at all sections but to reduce the chances of severe injury directly or indirectly attacking your opponents is strictly prohibited and grounds for immediate disqualification. If you fall off your gear or leave the course, you have twenty seconds to rejoin the race before being disqualified. Finally, racers must be in the starting area one minute before the gate opens or they'll be disqualified so rest up and be ready. The weather report is giving us clear skies for the race, so I expect to see you all at the top of the tower to give Studiopolis TV's audience the race of a lifetime!"

Applause broke out again as Breezie left the shrine taking the trophy with her. The Babylon Rouges and Freedom Fighters came together outside with the rest of the team. "Look's we'll have to fall back on plan B after all," said Storm.

Sally looked to her feet. "It was always a long shot, but I had to try."

"The race is our best bet anyway," said Jet. "But since Robotnick's tin cans aren't going to attack can we keep the prize money?"

"Not if you want to keep our cover and stay a free bird. Besides I wouldn't trust Snively as far as I could throw the Death Egg. We'll all have to stay alert for anything that can happen."

"By the way Silver what was up with the Skunk and the Sonic lookalike?" asked Wave. "It's like you didn't even exist to them."

"Something similar happened to the rest of the Society of the Great Illumination," said Silver. "We think our interloper is involved and is trying to keep them from changing the future we're trying to stop, the one where Sonic died long before he's supposed to."

"I tried to read their minds," said Gold. "But nothing was clear, whatever happened they've been protected from psychic influence."

"Well our senses are still working," said Chip. "No doubt about it, that lamp has a powerful essence inside."

"Then we better be ready to win it," said Sonic. "Let's get some grub and shuteye, modifying our Extreme Gear shouldn't take long so we'll do it first thing in the morning."

"Before dinner I want to make a call to everyone back home," said Tails. "Let them know the situation and what we're up to. That includes Dr. Quack, something about Geoff and Lucian's story of Hershey and Amy being pregnant struck me as odd, I have to check something with him."

"Don't take too long," said Sally. "I'm going to make everyone curry tonight!"

Sonic turned slightly green. "Can't wait…"

* * *

Snively, Scratch and Coconuts went into the aircraft Viktor gave him for this mission, inside Crabmeat and Grounder were waiting for them. "The Freedom Fighters are here, just as Regina said they'd be," Snivley sneered. "Alright S6 we'll try to win race, but our top priority is the elimination of Sonic. Scratch, Coconuts have some weapons ready to deal with him as a backup, Grounder, Crabmeat upgrade the armaments you're going to use for operation 'Slight Edge' so that when the Freedom Fighters have their 'accident' it will be fatal."

Crabmeat jumped for joy. "Oh boy, a chance to prove my usefulness to Robotnick!"

"Just be sure no one interferes with your attack, there can be no mistakes this time! Any questions?"

"Yeah," said Grounder. "If you get in trouble and we have to call for help, we're supposed to say Code Cereal, right?"

Snively could have sworn he just had a heart attack.

* * *

Lucian and Geoffrey entered a trailer marked "Private" inside Breezie was admiring her reflection in the trophy as Mammoth Mogul watched the door.

"Excellent, now we can discuss the mission," said Mammoth. "Do you remember Lord Specter's plan?"

"Of course, Master Mogul," said Lucian. "We stay competitive in the race, finish in a top position but not actually win, just be good enough to be at the awards ceremony."

Breezie gave her reflection a smile. "During which I'll insist the champion give the lamp a nice victory rub releasing Angelus in front of a worldwide audience."

"If Angelus isn't enraged upon his release, I'll make sure he attacks the crowd or make it appear like he did," said Mammoth. "Then you use the sealing spell Lord Specter gave you to return Angelus to the lamp on live television. We'll gain not only the Essence of Air, but you'll be big enough heroes that you'll attract many more followers to your society, followers who will become more Ixis Wizards."

"And Witches," said Breezie. "I assume when this plan works, I'll be one of them?"

Mammoth gave Breezie a satisfied look. "If it were up to me you would be one already, but yes this should prove yourself in Lord Specter's eyes."

Breezie went to her vanity mirror. "Then I better call it an early night and make sure I look good for the race; it will turn out to be quite the show."


	17. Fight to the Finish Line

An impromptu party was being held at the Royal Estate, friends and family of the Freedom Fighters came into the mansion's living room as the TV was showing a countdown until the start of the Babylon Cup.

"I heard something about an important race everyone was keeping track of," Charlemagne said as he entered the room. "You know I was a bit of a daredevil during my misguided youth and this seems like something I would have joined in if not for the prejudices I held, you wouldn't believe how many people were surprised I was made Overlord."

"You're welcome to join us," said Jules. "While I'm definitely rooting for my son with so much at stake, we all just want it to turn out in the way that's best for everyone."

"I know my Little Bean should be able to handle herself," said King Max. "But I hear race and I keep thinking to when she five and crying because she badly scraped her knee after the training wheels where taken off her bike."

Bernadette put a hand on the king's shoulder. "She's handled a lot worse than scraped knees over the years, besides my Sonic is there to protect her."

"And Silver and Gold are there to protect Sonic," Blaze said as she came up. "We've heard Tails message, if they can get the Essence hidden in that lamp then the Order of Ixis will be forced to attack in the open it they want to get all four elemental essences."

"I'm concerned about Tails working with criminals like the Babylon Rouges," said Rosemary. "What's keeping them from running away at the first sign of trouble or turning on the Freedom Fighters if Robotnick or the Order make them a better offer?

"For one, they'd be wanted birds for the rest of their lives," said Amadeus. "Two as we have to remember that lamp is part of their heritage as Babylonians, the last thing they'd want is for someone like Specter to use it for world domination, so they'll working with us."

Rosemary growled. "Still I'd rather they would have swapped out the Rouges for someone else, you Blaze for example or Knuckles."

Blaze shook he head. "A sudden change up would attract suspicion, and even that wasn't the case the Chaotix have been putting overtime to securing Angel Island from a possible attack by the Order. As for me while I've ridden Extreme Gear during my time with the Resistance, I've had to take momentary leave from the group. I thought it was high time to help Marine develop her latent abilities as a Chaos Adept."

"I found it a little boring at first because she had me go over the how Chaos Energy works why adapts can manipulate it," said Marine. "But knowing that stuff really made the actual training that much easier. Before I could just move water around a little bit, now I'm starting to do things by using chaos energy to manipulate water in the air, check this out!" She spread out her fingers and moved her hand front of Cubot who was carrying a plate of hors d'oeuvres to a table. "Hey Cubot, heads up! AQUA BLAST!"

A spray of water came from Marine's palm struck Cubot just as he turned and yelled as the blast of water sent careening into an expensive looking vase that shattered when it hit the floor.

Marine gave a nervous smile to the king as Orbot began to sweep up the mess. "I don't suppose that vase was just a cheap replica was it?"

"It's not a problem," said Alicia. "We can afford a replacement easily, just be more careful in the future. Let's sit down everyone the race will be starting soon. I hope Sally and the others can win it then the Freedom Fighters can focus on keeping this lamp and the Black Emerald secure on Angel Island."

Inwardly Specter grinned. _"Thank you for that little tidbit Your Majesty. Rest assured, no matter who gets first place ultimately I will be the winner!"_

* * *

At the top of the Tower of Babel two edges had VIP seating set up on either side of the track that now went down the middle. Sonic, now sporting a pair of shades as eye protection for the race, took a good look at a few of the other competitors in the starting area, among them were the former witchcarters; Falke Wolf, Carrottia, and Bearanger; a stoic looking boar, a pair consisting of a muscular ram and a fairly young gazelle girl and even a young human man that from a section of human girls that squealed when he came out was some sort of celebrity who joined the race just for the sake of publicity. Of course, Snively, Scratch, Coconuts, Geoffrey and Lucian were there but he was more concerned about who wasn't.

"I hope that follow up call Tails needed to make is quick, the race will be starting in a few minutes."

"It's about time for one last report, I'll have him check in too." said Sally as she began working her communicator as a single piece pair of goggles now covered her eyes. "All teams check in."

"This is team one," Bunnie said over the communicator. "Twan and I are hunkered down in the old market keepin' an eye out for funny business."

"Team two," said Rotor. "Nikki, uh, Nicole and I found a rooftop with a good view of the city, we should find anyone laying in hiding here.

"Team three," said Gold. "Me, Chip and Whip keeping an eye out in the dunes in case Snivley or the Order have something nasty buried out here."

Sally nodded. "Good, Tails the deadline's coming up can you give us an ETA?"

"Just look up!" Tails shouted as he flew in on his namesakes and landed, a pair of goggles on his forehead. "Made it with time to spare."

"You had us worried," said Silver. "So, what was it you wanted to ask Doctor Quack about so much that you were willing to wait until now to get everything?"

"It had to do with what Geoff and Lucian said last night. Given Amy and Lucian's wedding had to be only days ago at best I thought it was too early to tell if Amy had gotten pregnant, so I double checked with Doctor Quack, he says it usually takes two to three weeks for a test to determine if conception happened and that's if you are actually trying and keeping track of this sort of thing."

Sonic gasped. "You're saying before they got married…"

"No, it's a lot weirder than that. Doctor Quack told me female Mobians have set times of the year when ovulation occurs, like miniature versions of Mobini mating seasons, the exact time these 'heat periods' occur varies from species to species and for individuals the exact time fluctuates within that period. According to the records he pulled up this morning the last heat period for hedgehogs ended a month and a half ago, before Amy and Lucian even met, with another month and a half left until the next one starts. The last heat period for cats was about two months ago, well before Hershey and Geoffrey were reunited, and the next isn't for another month. Even if they broke the rules neither should be having a baby at all."

"I don't see what's so weird," said Sally. "Those two out and out lied to us."

"But what would it accomplish? This information isn't that hard to get, it only took me as long as it did because the doc couldn't get into those records because his office was closed for the night, so it's an easy lie to spot. Not only that it wasn't as if them being dads would change anything about the current situation."

Sonic turned and noticed the two Ixis wizards on a communicator. "Uh guys, we may want to listen in on this."

"…We'll head home after we've watched your performance at the race today," Amy said from the comm. "The three of us will be cheering you on."

"That's good," said Lucian. "Now that we're done taking business, how are the two of you and the babies doing?"

"Take a look," Amy began to step back from the camera to get Hershey in the shot, both now had noticeable baby bumps seeming to be halfway through the second trimester. "I wouldn't be surprised if by time the two of you get back, we'll both be as big as the Master Emerald."

"Just means we get to meet them that much sooner," said Geoffrey. "We have to go, but once we get back luv I'll give you a nice foot rub."

"Can't wait," Hershey said. "Be safe you two."

The couples exchanged kisses over the screen before the two wizards approached the middle of the field, Sally turned to the team. "They didn't seem to notice us, so they were telling the truth, but not only do we have a pair of impossible pregnancies but ones that are going absurdly quickly."

Sonic's quills bristled. "This has got to be Masquerade's doing, if he's making those two have monster babies to throw at us there won't be enough left to fit a matchbook once I get done with him."

"With a minute left all entrants are accounted for!" A bull acting as the announcer said through a loudspeaker. "Racers get into starting positions; the starting gate will open in less than a minute so get moooooooooving!"

"No time to worry about that," said Silver. "We have a lamp to win."

The Freedom Fighters came went to the middle where the Babylon Rouges were waiting for them. "The gang's all here," said Jet. "Now let's get this race started so I can win the Lamp of Angelus!"

"You mean so I can win it," Sonic said with a smirk.

"You're both wrong," said Sally. "Our team is helping yours and vice versa. Make sure your radio earpieces are on the same frequency. When you're out there I want everyone to keep this in their minds first, 'teamwork makes the dream work'!"

Sonic gave a thumbs up. "You're right Sal, so let's do it to it!"

About the same time Snivley lined up with Scratch and Coconuts. "Have Grounder and Crabmeat taken up their positions yet?"

"They've been waiting since before dawn," said Coconuts. "Those chumps will never see 'em coming."

Scratch hopped on his board. "I'm ready!"

Snivley shook his head. "That's not how you start! Before the gate opens everyone will run for it then mount their gear once they pass, the trick is to time your run so you're going at top speed while reaching the gate at the exact moment it goes down. Can't you calculate that in seconds?!"

"Your uncle built us to follow orders, not be good at math," Scratch sighed as he got off again.

Snively groaned as he lowered the goggles on his cap over his eyes. "This is going to be a loooooong race."

"Ten seconds left," said the announcer. "Racers you may move about your lane!"

Some started to move backward to a position where they could get more running room, others stayed still to focus on timing while others still moved ahead hoping for a head start. Sonic ran up and waited with just enough space to take a couple of steps before the gate.

"The gate will open in 5…4…"

A line appeared at the back of the starting area that started to move to the gate while racers attempted to catch up to it.

"3…2…1…"

Sonic moved just enough get into super speed before jumping on the gear, it slightly ahead of the approaching pack it seemed like he was about to hit the force field separating him from a long fall.

"GO!"

The gate vanished as the line touched it and the next instant Sonic was already sailing past and readying himself for the drop. Jet was only half a second behind him.

Snively was just about to reach the gate when he tripped on his overly long scarf and he found himself laying on stomach on top of his gear as he plummeted down the track.

"AAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Just over three seconds later Snivley got just enough sense to pull up the board before it crashed on the track below, getting just in time to try to make the first turn.

"Unbullievable!" shouted the announcer. "In an unorthodox maneuver Snivley worked with gravity and made himself aerodynamic enough to get a significant head start! But now everyone's gunning for him!"

Jet growled as he started making the turn. "The guy got lucky and now he's in the lead!"

"Doesn't matter who's leading at the start of the race," said Sonic as they came out of the turn. "Just who's leading at the end."

As the race turned into the pillars of the old market Lucian's eyes were glowing aqua as her trailed close behind Geoffrey.

"Left, right twice, duck, left, jump and right!"

Geoffrey followed the instructions and weaved through standing and fallen pillars as a couple of other racers hit them, one had to run and remount falling behind but the lost their gear in the crash and was scooped up by rescue drones before they hit the ground.

"Nice work," said Geoffrey. "With your future sight we should be able to see the course and events up ahead, completing this mission will be a cinch."

"Speaking of which let's put on some thrust up ahead, we have to look like we want to win!"

As the race turned into the narrow streets Snivley, now closer to the middle of the pack after being slowed down by the pillars, tapped the sleeve of his jacket making a hologram appear. "Grounder we're approaching the dried oasis; how can we evade your trap?"

"I'm sending you a map," Grounder said as it appeared on the hologram. "Just avoid the red dots and the mines won't get you."

"Wait, I know we're moving too fast for remote detonation to be reliable but the way they're spaced it would be difficult to avoid the proximity sensors."

"Which is why I turned them off."

Snively sneered. "You mean they're pressure activated?!"

* * *

"So what?" Grounder said as he looked out to the dried oasis "I don't see the problem…"

The race came into the dry lakebed and Grounder watched as every Extreme Gear hovered safely over the mines at high speed then went back into the ruins at the other side.

"…ohhhhhhh."

"We still have two laps, just set them back to remote detonate and try to get Sonic on the next pass."

CLANG!

Grounder's body went after his head after Rotor used his wrench to knock it away. He didn't get far before Nicole hacked the body still while Rotor picked up Grounder's still active head before knocking it out.

"Good plan Snively," said Nicole. "Except we'll detonate all the mines now while nobody can get hurt by them." With a press of a button on Grounder's remote a large explosion made the lakebed about a half foot deeper. "We'll be taking Grounder to the race officials to explain this, enjoy being disqualified."

Once Nicole shut off the communicator Rotor turned to her. "That was nice work Nikk…Nicole."

Nicole cupped Rotor's cheek. "I know it's hard trying to see me as both the friend you knew for years and the program you created and saw as your little girl. When I was sent back teasing your attempts to figure me out was my way of 'playing' with my dad. Now that I can remember my childhood while I still want you to respect me as an adult and a member of this team I don't mind if we also treat each other as the family we are."

"Ah," Grounder said as he was groggily waking up. "That's sweet."

Rotor conked the head with the wrench again knocking him out. "Thank you, Nikki. I'll reconnect this after we disable the body's motor functions, we should be able to make it back just in time for the end of the race."

* * *

Meanwhile the race had left the dunes and began spiraling up the tower, Sally was turning to the inside to gain a few places.

"Watch out!" Storm shouted.

Sally turned and saw a moose barreling towards her, a moment later Storm knocked into the him sending the moose off his gear where a rescue drone saved him from the fall he intended for Sally.

"To the officials it'll look they just collided trying to make the same turn, what could have happened to you" Jet said from the Radio. "The rules say we can't attack each other, but there's no rule that's been made so well someone can't think of a way around it."

"Thanks for the save Storm," said Sally. "But I meant what I said about winning fairly, too much is at stake for us to risk getting caught cheating and disqualified."

Around the middle of the pack Snively turned to the Scratch and Coconuts. "We need to get closer to the lead!"

"I got just the thing!" Scratch then extended the wings now attached to the boosters on his back. "Since Sonic can't run in this race these will make me the fastest thing here! Firing turbo booster! WHOAAAAAAA!"

Scratch got a big boost, so big he shot right off the track, then his gear and was soon a dot near the horizon.

"Looks like Scratch is way out of bounds, that makes him the third racer to drop out! But it looks like Jet and Sonic have just finished the first lap!"

"Don't worry!" Crabmeat said from Snively's radio. "Once Sonic comes into the old market again, he's mine!"

* * *

Crabmeat opened his claw and aimed at Sonic as he came down the tower. "Target locked, just have to wait until he gets to the pillars…"

Sonic and Jet were heading into the old market but Snively and Coconuts were right on their heels.

"…annnnd FIRE!"

Crabmeat launched a missile that speed toward sonic, a second later it exploded as it was hit by a laser beam.

"Uh oh."

Antione came up from behind him conked him on the head with the pommel of his sword. "Bon nuit (Good night)!"

Crabmeat shut down and fell face first into the sand just before Bunnie picked up the Badnick. "That should be all of the little twirp's flunkies," Bunnie said into the radio. "Still y'all watch your backs, he and the Order probably have other tricks up their sleeves."

"Thanks, Bunnie," Tails said from the other side of the radio. "Sonic and Jet are still swapping the lead, if we can keep the rest of the pack from getting close then the Lamp of Angelus is ours."

"In that case we'll bring this piece of seafood over to the officials while you make sure everybody in the top is working for the Freedom Fighters!"

* * *

The race was coming out of the city streets and back to the lakebed when Coconuts and Snively found the street they had taken put them very close to Sonic. Coconut pulled out one of his grenades that looked like his namesake. "I got him now!"

"Wait!" yelled Snively. "Throw now and you'll be disqualified! At least let me fall back to a safe…!"

Coconuts threw the bomb squarely at Sonic's head.

"…Distance."

Suddenly Jet moved in front of the bomb and swung his Bashōsen at it. "Nice throw, but can you catch?!" The green feathered fan created a gust strong enough to send the bomb sailing back at Coconuts forcing him to leap off his gear activating a spherical energy shield just before the bomb blew his gear to pieces.

The energy sphere was still up when Coconuts hit the ground at the field passed him. "Great, I never figured out how to turn this off. Let's maybe…" Coconuts began to roll the sphere around him like he was in a hamster ball.

"Ouch, that attack backfired!" the announcer said. "Disqualified and crashed out all in one moooove! Sonic and Jet are still battling for first, but except for Snively who had to move back to avoid the explosion the remaining racers are not far behind…" A lamb girl whispered something into the announcer's ear. "This just in we have unidentified flyers approaching the track fast and it looks like they'll be on top of the racers by the time they hit the dunes."

"Gold can you see what's coming?" Sally asked over the radio.

* * *

"One moment," Gold took out a pair of binoculars as Chip and Whip floated nearby.

"I wish we could do more to help," said Chip.

Whip grumbled. "If I only had my original body."

As gold focused the binoculars, she saw two robots and focused in on one of them. It was humanoid with white armor, yellow visor, a pair of wings on its back and what she'd describe as a feminine build. Most noticeable was a black emblem just above the chest of a gear with mechanical dragon wings with a lightning bolt going through the hole in the center. "Looks like the Robotnick Ascendancy has made a new robot, still not sure…"

Gold's eyes widened as she looked at the second robot, more masculine in build and with red armor, despite the same emblem on its chest she smiled like she saw an old friend coming down the street.

"Silver, it's Red Knight!"

"No way!" Silver said over the line. "We both saw him get wrecked in the future!"

"Maybe he followed us and got himself repaired."

"Wait," said Sally. "You're happy to see one of Viktor's robots?!"

"He was reprogramed back in our original time," said Silver. "He protected Gold and me, we can trust him."

"No, we can't!" said Tails. "Because this is isn't your Red Knight!"

"What do you mean?"

"I think I get it," said Sonic. "The Red Knight you knew that was reprogrammed was already two hundred years old! This one isn't your Red Knight because he didn't travel back in time, he's brand spanking new off the assembly line!"

The race had come back to the dunes as the two robots flew in parallel to them. "Targets locked," said the white robot. "Firing static pulse rockets!"

Several small rockets launched from the wings of both robots. They hit the gear of several racers which suddenly lost power sending their riders tumbling in the dunes. Those headed for the Babylon Rouges were deflected away when they grouped together as Jet used his Bashōsen to blow the rockets into each other and the two Ixis Wizards used their magic to take out the rockets headed form them. Snively and the Freedom Fighters were ignored by the attack.

"T-this is unprecedented in Extreme Gear history ladies and gentlemen!" The announcer said. "Half of our original participants have been knocked out in a single outside attack! We're down to just eleven racers, I don't think we can continue…" the announcer saw Breezie shake her head. "I-I don't bullieve this, but the commissioner is allowing the race to continue! At the risk of my job I have to say this is insane!"

Snively activated the communicator on his smart jacket. "Unknown robots identify yourselves!"

Red Knight appeared on the hologram above Snively's sleeve. "This is Prototype unit X-001, codename: Red Knight. My counterpart is Prototype unit X-002, codename: White Bishop. We are here on a field test of combat capabilities. New targets identified: Sonic the Hedgehog, Sally Acorn and affiliated allies. Objective: Termination!"

Red Knight extended a lance and shield from his arms and charged Sonic. Silver created a psychic shield as he moved in front of Sonic as the rest of the team moved out of their way and held it as they moved up the spiral ramp. "I know we're supposed to enemies and this is going to sound crazy but I'm from the future and if Sonic dies before this year is over your master will never rule the planet!"

Silver felt a cable wrap around his waist, it was only quick thinking and his telekinesis that kept White Bishop from pulling him off his board.

"A laughable deception," said the red robot. "You are opposed to the ascendancy, that makes whatever you say suspect."

"Thanks for the assist," said Snivley. "Now I'll win this race while leaving these nuisances in your capable hands!" Snivley speed through the gap Red Knight had made.

Sonic pointed at the overlander. "Leave these bolt brains to me, we still have a race to win!"

The race had come back to the top of the tower as the crowd began to flee from the stands. From the shadows Mammoth placed his index and middle fingers on his forehead. "Geoffrey, Lucian, you have a new mission. Place in the race like before but at the same time make sure Sonic survives, Lord Specter told me he is critical to the Grand Design."

The racers began to go down the slope for the last time as Lucian put his fingers on his forehead. "Understood".

"Wind Cutter!" Geoffrey sent a blade of air from his hand severing the cable that bound Silver to White Bishop.

White Bishop retracted what was left of the cable back to her arm and then grabbed a box from the thigh that unfolded into a rifle. "You could have lived longer if you just kept out of this."

She fired bolts of energy at the sorcerers.

"Frost Lance!"

Lucian sent icicles at the shots creating a mist just as they entered the pillars of the old market. "We can't bomb the ruins without risking Snively. We'll intercept them as they come to the dried oasis!" said White Bishop.

"I copy," said Red Knight. The two robots flew into a sniping position, Red Knight retracted his lance and shield and from his thigh compartment removed a box that unfolded into what looked like a gatling gun. "Preparing target lock, this will be like shooting fish in a barrel."

The racers turned into the city streets Sonic, Jet and Silver were beginning to catch up to Snively. Silver used his mental link with Gold. {You knew Red Knight better than I did, how can we stop him?}

{The only thing specific I can think of is how he came to join the Final Freedom Fighters. If you get another chance to speak with him, I'll relay the story for you to tell him. I do consider him a friend but if this doesn't work and it must be a choice between saving Red Knight and saving Sonic and the future, Red Knight would've been the first to tell us to scrap him.}

{I understand, but I don't like it. See you at the finish line.}

Sonic and Jet passed Snivley as they came to the dry lakebed only to brake hard as the two robots opened fire. "How can we get past that little twerp if those bots keep shooting at us?!"

Sally clenched her fist. "Since they aren't racing the rules preventing us from attacking don't apply to them," One of her ring blades activated. "Sonic Jet, focus on getting first, Silver cover them, the rest of us are going to try to slow them down!"

"Don't do anything stupid!" said Sonic.

Storm pounded on his chest. "Hey you know me!"

"Exactly," grumbled Jet.

The Sally and the others charged the two robots, as they started to fire on them. The Babylon Rouges moved ahead of the Freedom Fighters and then flipped their gear up to use as shields for themselves and the two behind them. Just before the gear were torn to pieces the thieves kicked off as Sally and Tails accelerated to climb above them. As the birds were picked up by rescue drones Sally slashed her ring blade through the barrel of Red Knight's gatling gun.

Tails moved to tackle White Bishop, but the robot fell back and aimed at the two Freedom Fighters. "You're mine!" She then fired five shots.

Sally flipped her gear to use as a shield. As Tails did the same, he instinctively threw his hand out and what looked like three power rings flew from his grasp. Two hit a couple of the rounds while the third impacted the rifle, all crackled with electricity and exploded on impact. The remaining two rounds hit the gear and as Sally began to fall Tails flew over to grabbed her as the two tried to ready a counter.

"Forget them," Red Knight said as he discarded his destroyed gun. "Sonic is our priority, move out!"

White Bishop dropped the ruined rifle as the two jetted towards the dunes.

Tails began to move after the robots. "We have to…"

"Hold it Tails," Sally said from his arms. "Given the speed everyone is moving at our best chance is to head back to the tower and wait for them back at the finish line, that's where the Rouges will be after that rescue anyway. Between Sonic, Silver and Jet they would their own until the race is over."

"I get it," Tails nodded. "We have to make sure any bystanders still there get to safety. Next stop Tower of Babel."

"By the way what was that thing you did back there? I've never seen Power Rings do that."

Tails looked like he just processed what he did. "Aunt Sally, I didn't bring any Power Rings with me. I just wish I had grenades on me, and the rest was just instinct. I don't how I did that 'Ring Bomb' thing."

"Tails, I think your Chaos Powers are starting to come back."

"But after Mammoth drained me of my turbo form, I thought those powers were gone forever," Tails shook his head. "The double of me Mammoth made he sacrificed his life to reunite me with everyone, if I'm really getting my Chaos Power back then I owe it to him to use those powers to protect my friends because you were his friends too!"

* * *

The race had left the ruins and were crossing back over the dunes the Geoffrey and Lucian shot wind and water behind them to boost both into the lead.

"That should make it look good enough for the cameras," said Lucian. "Now we just have to let whoever's back there beat us to the inside turn on the tower spiral and the stage will be set for our heroic defeat of Angelus."

Geoffrey looked behind at the remaining four racers and noticed Red Knight and White Bishop coming up fast. "There might be a complication in that plan."

Not too far behind Sonic, Jet and Silver were right no Snively's heels.

"No!" the overlander sneered. "I've come too close; I was finally going to get I've always deserved!"

Above the two robots focused on Sonic. "Target systems synced," said Red Knight. "Calculating target velocity, projecting estimated future location, firing burst rockets!"

Missiles came from both robots' wings and were making a beeline to Sonic. Silver threw up another shield that caused the resulting explosion to throw up enough sand to block any camera watching them.

"You're right Snively!" Sonic yelled. "You should get the only thing you ever deserved, THE BOOT!"

Covered by the sand Sonic kicked Snively in the backside. the treacherous assistant flew off his gear and just barely grabbed onto Geoffrey's tail before he hit the ground.

"What a blast folks!" the announcer said. "As the racers head into the final turns Colin Kintobor Jr. has been knocked out of the running, but not out of the race! This cud be a big problem for Geoffrey St. John!"

"What now?" asked White Bishop.

"Arm your saber," Red Knight said as he once again deployed his lance and shield. "I just got an idea for a surprise attack.

As the racers spiraled up the tower Geoffrey tried to shake off Snively. "Let go! The rescue drones will catch you, you idiot!" Snivley tried to regain his grip near the edge of Geoff's tail. "No, don't squeeze there!"

As Snively tightened his grip a cloud of musk began to cover him. Not far behind Lucian braked to avoid the stench while Sonic, Jet and Silver turned missing the cloud and passing the rest.

"Ugh!" Snively cried. "It's in my mouth!"

"Thanks Stinker!" said Jet as he took the lead. "Oh, and I guess the skunk helped too!"

"That should do it!" yelled Lucian. "Everything's in place!"

"It had better be!" said Geoffrey. "As much as I don't like to use my spray, I'd like to keep some as a last resort! This imbecile squeezed me dry, it'll take me over a week to replenish my supply!"

"Please just let me know when it's over," moaned Snively.

The announcer leaned over his microphone. "And coming up to the final stretch it's Jet the Hawk, followed by Sonic with rest of the pack hot on their trail! Who's going to stampede their way to victory?!"

"Looks like the lamp's as good as ours!" said Jet as he took both his fans out. "Which means I don't have to hold back to beat you to first place!"

Jet waved both fans behind him as he came to the last straightaway propelling him forward.

Sonic smirked. "You're not the only one with an ace up his sleeve!"

Sonic leapt off his gear, launched a boost and then hopped back on as the boost's momentum carried forward.

"Sonic and Jet are blazing at super speed!" said the announcer. "It's going down to wire; I think it'll be a photo finish!"

Just as they were about to come to the finish line Red Knight and White Bishop burst through the track from below, the racers were thrown forward and into the stands where Breezie, the announcer and the trophy were.

"Sonic!" the Freedom Fighters now all assembled ran to the crash.

"Jet!" the Babylon Rouges ran right by their side.

Before they could reach the stand the two ascendancy robots touched down in between them. "Time to finish this," said Red Knight.

Silver stumbled from the crash his marking glowing. "Red Knight, please you have to believe me. Sonic must live for the future to survive."

"Listen to us!" shouted Gold. "In the future a good friend of mine found your mangled body and repaired you. She was the last human you were one of the only links she had left to a history that was erased from historical record by the Mobius Imperium. You saved the Final Freedom Fighters so many times, you…sacrificed yourself so we could save our future, don't let that sacrifice, Dr. L's sacrifice be in vain. If you try to kill Sonic, we'll be forced to destroy you.

Red Knight lifted his lance to charge. "Even if this body is destroyed the Ascendancy will prevail!"

Red Knight charged, only to be halted when White Bishop grabbed his lance arm.

"Wait!" the white robot said. "Switch from verbal to encoded communication Zulu."

The two robots faced each other making after making a few beeps at each other. Suddenly they retracted their weapons and turned to Silver and Gold.

"This information must be evaluated further," said Red Knight. "We will withdraw once we have gathered all Ascendancy forces in the immediate area. Further attacks on Sonic will be withheld pending a final decision by Doctor Robotnick."

"He…listened?" asked Tails.

"But why you?" Gold asked White Bishop. "I didn't see you in the future at all."

The white robot looked at the tenrec. "…all information on Ascendancy stratagem information is classified."

The rest of the racers began to stir. "What a finish," said the announcer. "But who will take home the Babylon Cup?"

Breezie turned on a tv hooked up to one of the cameras and began playing back footage in slow motion. "And the winner is…" Breezie had a big grin. "…Sonic the Hedgehog by a quill!"

"Awwwww, shoot!" shouted Jet as he got up.

Sonic chuckled as he got up. "Mission clear."

Before everyone began to move to Sonic as the remaining crowd applauded. Sally moved to hug her hero. "Sonic!"

Before she could get there Breezie cut in between them. "And now for the awards ceremony! Any words before we give you your check and trophy?"

Sonic was annoyed. "Not really, we have places to be so I'm just going the grab both before we boogie on out of here."

Breezie began to pick the fallen trophy up. "Please for the viewers at home just give…" Breezie then gasped along with everyone else as the Lamp of Angelus had vanished from the top of the trophy.

"Where's the lamp?!" shouted Wave.

"It must have fallen off in the crash," said Geoffrey. "It can't have gone too far."

"Ugh," Snively after finally waking up tried to get back on his feet as he laid over some wreckage. As he did so his hand slipped and rubbed across the surface of a brass lamp inches from his face. suddenly the wind started to howl as purple clouds began to gush from the lamp's nozzle. "What on Mobius?"

"No," gasped Sally. "He just freed Angelus!"

As the sky suddenly darkened and the crowd began to run away in a panic Breezie went down a nearby staircase and came straight to Mammoth. "Not exactly how I planned but the job's done."

"Good," said Mogul. "Now to wait for the right moment."

The purple clouds then formed into a giant purple humanoid with a powerful chest with a feathered vest over his back, muscular arms wearing gold wristbands, a set of feathers on his head and a tornado that extended downward from his waist like a tail.

"So, this is what you cells must feel like when you're before me at my full power," said Whip. "I don't like it one bit."

"YES!" Angelus shouted. "I AM FREE! FREE AFTER TEN THOUSAND YEARS AWAY FROM THE FIRMAMENT!"

Snively cackled manically as he lifted the lamp towards Angelus. "Yes! I have freed you and as your master I demand you grant me what is owed!" Snively then looked off in thought. "I think I'll wait until after the Ascendancy has taken over Mobius before I wish to be its leader. Now for my first wish should I just ask for him to destroy the Freedom Fighters or do I give myself a full head of hair? I suppose I could ask Regina…"

"IMPUDENT MORTAL!" shouted Angelus. "YOU THINK YOU CAN SIMPLY MAKE DEMANDS OF ME?!"

Snively began backpedaling. "But I get three wishes, isn't that how magic lamps are supposed to work?"

Corva slapped her forehead. "Oh, for cryin' out loud! He's a sky god not a genie you prat!"

Snively gulped and fell to his knees. "Forgive me your gustyness! This is all a big misunder…"

"Charing power laser," Red Knight said as his and White Bishop's chests opened to large cannons. "Target locked, fire!"

The lasers hit causing the giant to reel.

"What did you do that for?!" yelled Nicole.

"Sensors indicate target is a hyper energy organism, based on gathered data the likelihood of him posing a threat to Robotnick forces is at 98.7%"

"Well given Eggman had a record of abusing them for his evil plans before they became threats then the most logical action should be to LEAVE THEM ALONE!"

"The H.E.O. is beginning to recover," said White Bishop. "Maximum attack effectiveness was been negligible, protocol states that we evacuate remaining Ascendancy forces and retreat."

"Understood," said Red Knight as he grabbed Snively who dropped the lamp in the process. "All units initiate transmat recall."

The two robots, Snivley, and the S6 in the visible area all vanished.

"Your friend is leaving us to take care of the ticked off wind spirit by ourselves!" Rotor yelled to Gold.

Gold blushed. "He…gets better in a couple of centuries."

Angelus then roared. "INSOLENT FOOLS! IN TEN THOUSAND YEARS YOU MORTALS HAVE NOT CHANGED, WHAT YOU CANNOT CONTROL YOU TRY TO DESTROY!"

Winds started whipping up and lightning crackled through the air.

"NOW A STORM UNLIKE ANY OTHER RAGES ACROSS THIS ENTIRE WORLD! THAT WILL TEACH ALL MORTALS NOT TO RISE ABOVE YOUR PROPER PLACES!"

Chip tried to fly to Angelus with Whip right behind him. "Angelus, you don't have to do this! It was just one man, the Babyl…WHOOOOAAAAA!"

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

The diminished earth spirits were blown into the air by the tornado that now surrounded the tower, Chip's plea drowned out by the howling wind.

The Babylon Rouges, Tails, Silver, Gold, Rotor and Nicole held on for dear life to the stonework against the wind. Sally and Antione had to use their ring blade and sword respectively to dig into the tower roof, Bunnie extended her arm to keep from getting blown away and Sonic moved as fast as he could but was literally going nowhere fast.

"If this keeps up civilization will be completely flattened!" Sally tried to shout above the winds.

Geoffery used his magic to create a buffer from the storm but it seemed to be taking a toll on him. "Give us the lamp! Without Chaos Emeralds our magic is the only thing that can seal him away again!"

"Even if we could get it there has to be another option!" shouted Tails. "We can't just make this another generation's problem!"

Silver spotted the lamp caught up in the tornado and grabbed it with his telekinesis.

"What are you doing!?" yelled Sonic.

"It's the only way!" Silver grunted as he fought against the wind to bring the lamp to Lucian's hands within Geoffrey's buffer. The water mage then pointed the nozzle at the great air titan and started to chant.

"Tirips ho lessev siht ot uoy dnib I Sixi fo rewop eht yb! Denifnoc rewop ruoy ot nruter latnemele uoy dnammoc I!"

Angelus' tail began to be dragged to the nozzle of the lamp. "NOOOOOOOO!"

"It's working!" shouted Geoffrey. "Just a little longer!"

Angelus tried to buffet the Ixis wizards with even stronger winds only to stop as his gaze settled on the Babylon Rouges. A look of lament came across his face as he spoke in a whisper that seemed to cut through the storm so they could hear it as if everything else was silent.

"My children only now do I see we were both deceived, his dark hand moved against us and this world from the very beginning. Just as your ancestors fell to greed my pride had blinded me to the truth that as children of the sky your people would have never been content to simply remain in a single home even if it met your every need, I realize now that desire in and of itself is not an evil thing, so long as it remains a servant and not a master. Before I am sealed away once again, I return what was never mine to take away, for you will need it in the dark days to come."

"Looc ytterp si gnitirw rorrim wonk uoy naht siht daer nac uoy fi!"

As Lucian chanted the last words Angelus was pulled back into the lamp. The Rouges fell to their knees in pain, pain that was quickly forgotten but as a set of larger feathers grew from the back of their arms and they stared on in wonder.

"No way," said Storm. "I got…wings?"

Corva stroked the new addition to her appendages, suddenly she then ran over the ledge and dove off.

"CORVA!" Storm shouted as he reached out for the crow.

The next second a black figure shot up from past the ledge.

"YAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOO!"

Everyone looked overhead as Corva began to circle above. "You blokes have got to come up here! It's even better than I dreamed it would be!"

With a few flaps of their new wings the remaining Rouges took off and began circling the swooping, diving and climbing with Corva.

"We're flying!" shouted Jet. "We're actually flying!"

"I wouldn't want to give my gear up," said Wave. "But this is something else altogether, it's like I should have been doing this my whole life!"

Soon from the ruins below other Mobian birds that were in that had taken shelter began flying up on wings of their own and for the first time in ten thousand years the skies of Babylon were filled with the people who once called it home.

Sonic smiled to himself as he looked on. "Way past cool."

Suddenly a beep came the Tail's Miles Electric. He turned it on, and Sir Charles appeared.

"Everyone there's been some sort of event, bird Mobians had sprouted wings all over the world! People are afraid it's another gene bomb attack!"

"It's ok Uncle Chuck," said Sonic. "It wasn't a gene bomb."

"Then what was it?"

Sally looked up at the Mobians flying overhead. "As far as these people are concerned, a miracle."

"Hey!" Chip shouted as he and Whip managed to find their way back. "You guys did it! You got Angelus to change his mind!"

"It wasn't us," said Tails. "I don't why but it seems like he gave the Babylonians their wings back just before…" Suddenly his face fell. "The lamp!"

The Freedom Fighters turned to where Geoffrey and Lucian were surprisingly still standing where they were moments ago. Lucian still had the lamp of Angelus firmly in his grasp.

Geoffrey still catching his breath raised his arms to the Mobians above him. "The false god of Babylon has been sealed away once again! The Society of the Great Illumination has given the descendants of Babylon a small glimpse into the paradise Ixis has promised, he gives you back the sky!"

Cheers erupted in the sky above the tower, except from the Babylon Rouges.

"That's not what happened," said Storm.

"Those dirty sneaks!" grumbled Jet. "They're taking credit for everyone's wings!"

"Well they're not taking the lamp too!" said Sonic and he began running to the wizards.

Geoffrey and Lucian were covered in wind and water then vanished from the scene.

Sonic pounded the remains of the track. "They got away again!"

"That couldn't have worked better if I did get involved myself," said Mammoth from his and Breezie's hiding place. "Specter did have the right idea in having Regina invite Snively to your little race."

"We better get going then," said Breezie. "I'm ready to see how I can use these powers to help the company."

"Then follow me," Mammoth held out his cane. "Zone Gate."

A portal appeared which vanished as soon as the two stepped through.

"How could we have done everything right and have still lost?" asked Nicole.

"I hate to add more bad news, but it looks like them having Angelus might just be the icing on the cake for them," said Rotor.

Up above many of the birds were talking about the Society of the Great Illumination and soon many other Mobians began to get excited with them.

"No!" shouted Corva. "Angelus lifted the curse! He was trying to protect from something worse comin'! Please, listen to me!"

* * *

Mammoth and Breezie stepped out of the portal to see a green light coming from the lamp on the upper left hand of the idol of Ixis out to both Geoffrey and Amy. With Iblis' eye in the upper right hand and the Gaia's ring on the lower right only the Essence of Water was missing. The light ceased and with a motion Geoffrey formed a tornado like creature with a bird's head before dispelling it away.

"Three down, one to go," Naugus said from the corner of the room.

"What about the baby?" Lucian asked. "The power hasn't effected them, right?"

"Just like last time," said Amy. "I can feel the power's in me but if anything, it's protecting our child."

Lucian hugged Amy from behind putting both their hands on her growing baby bump. "That's good, whatever destiny they have, our baby being safe and healthy is all I want right now."

"There is only one more duty required of you today," Specter said. "The initiation of the newest members of the Order of Ixis."

"I thought it would just be me," said Breezie. "Who else is getting their powers?"

"Initiates of the Society of the Great Illumination, I would request you remain quiet until the Heralds get them to see things our way. To that end I recommend the Supreme Council leave the room before Hershey brings them in."

Mammoth tapped his cane. "I was hoping to see my assistant become my apprentice can you bestow her powers first then have the others join?"

Specter turned to Mammoth but with the mask the spirit was hard to read. "If that is your desire, I suppose…"

"Actually, I need to discuss an urgent matter with the Supreme Council," Fiona said. "It has to do with my duties as Hershey and Amy's midwife."

"We should listen to the girl," said Witchcart. "It's not as if that woman is going to be your first apprentice."

Specter shook his head. "I'm sorry Master Mogul, but it looks like you'll have to skip this one."

"I'll be fine sir," said Breezie. "You go ahead and take care of business."

Mammoth nodded. "Alright Breezie, but first let me just say congratulations."

Fiona led the Supreme Council out of the room. They could hear other footsteps come in via the portal.

"I'm so glad you all could come," Amy said out of sight. "In addition to new friends I'm glad to see a few familiar faces as well."

The heavy stone doors closed behind them and the moment now sound could pass through Naugus breathed a sigh of relief.

"That was a close call! Mammoth, Regina, as much as I don't want to 'come clean' about my own activities Witchcart and I made some discoveries that complicate our plans. If we didn't pull you out of there you would have told Specter everything about our little coup."

"Are you going insane again?!" asked Regina. "Talking about that in front one of Specter's pet elite?!"

The vixen looked at Regina with purple eyes. "Fiona isn't in the driver's seat at the moment," Agunus said with Fiona's voice. "These two planned to have the three of us that formed Naugus each take a herald as a body but while I was trying to find a way to make the real Fiona give me complete control I found something that jeopardizes our little conspiracy."

"I should have known you'd betray us," said Mammoth. "But if you're willing tell me about it to my face then this must be dire. What have you found?"

"First we have to show you both something," said Naugus. "If it weren't for this, I would have thought Agunus was trying to destroy me and the remaining two parts of myself."

Regina and Mammoth were led to a room that still retained some of the cells from when the temple was a prison. Only one was occupied, by a human girl with red hair and fine-looking white clothes and a feathered hairclip, she turned away in a quiet defiance. "Oh, it's you again. I see there are a couple more here so I'll only repeat myself so they can hear, neither you nor your supposed master Specter are going to get away with this. The people of Solenna and our allies in the United Federation won't rest until I am found, so please release before more people get hurt."

Witchcart gave a mocking bow. "May I introduce her royal highness Elise the Third, Princess of the human nation of Solenna."

"And we did the most cliché plot of kidnapping a princess why?" grumbled Regina.

"This was completely an accident on the part of Fiona, Hershey and Amy," said Agunus. "We brought you here because she can verify what I can tell you safely. As I was poking through Fiona's memories I came to where she and the others had chosen to join us."

Regina moaned again. "Yes, Ixis brainwashed them, we know this."

"It's not brainwashing, at least not in the traditional sense. Once they opened themselves to him to get the power needed to expand that spell allowing Sonic to reverse the gene bombs Ixis revealed something to them, that was all. But this knowledge, because of what it represents on a primal level, compelled them to obey Ixis and Specter because they believe it is the right thing for them to do. The only reason I'm not affected is because this isn't my actual body, I don't have a genetic level for it to speak on.

"The Five Elite had been telling others through the guise of the Society of the Great Illumination, which is just a way to get people to expose themselves to it once they agree to learn more. Fiona, Amy and Hershey were doing this near Solenna today when the Princess came with some curious Overlander friends, she was the first human who went as far as exposing herself to this knowledge but it didn't have the same effect on her, since they couldn't let the truth get exposed to the world at large we were forced to capture the Princess and bring her here, Specter said to hold her until the Elemental War starts but it was a stroke of luck on my part, I wasn't able to tell either Naugus or Witchcart until she was able to verify my claims, isn't that right Princess?"

Elise sighed. "This…individual is right, the moment a Mobian or Overlander learns this horrible truth, they become willing slaves of Specter and Ixis."

"Which is why we had to get the two of you out of there," said Naugus. "Being at that ceremony would have exposed you and we couldn't have half our conspiracy do an about face."

Mammoth grabbed Naugus by the neck and pinned him to the bars of Elise's cell. "And you had me leave Breezie to become another one of Specter's pawns?!"

"If we got her too it would have looked suspicious," Naugus croaked. "Hate me all you want but I was just playing the hand I was dealt, being in the casino business you should know that."

Mammoth let go of Naugus. "This had better be the last time or you'll find you owe the house and ran out of chips."

As Naugus caught his breath Regina turned back to the possessed Fiona. "So, who else knows this enslaving secret that unaffected?"

"Me, the princess, Suguna and Nusgau," Agunus said. "On the bright side it has made manipulating Fiona that much easier, not total control but enough that I force her into a corner of her mind by blocking that knowledge. Suguna and Nusgau should be able to make use of one quirk it has, if by some chance if a person breaks away from the control it allows the knowledge is erased even though everything else remains intact, so all one has to do is be willingly exposed to it again to be brought into the fold all over again."

"Just one more question, if this knowledge could enslave Overlanders and Mobians why not just make a worldwide broadcast and get millions at once?"

"That could be jammed or turned off if a government realizes something was afoot," said Witchcart. "No I think this is why Specter wants the Elemental War, if the elite can voice this message through the elementals they'd have a captive audience through the ruse of an attack to protect oneself from and with the seven Chaos Emeralds I'd imagine they could field an endless number of messengers."

"We were going to be his slaves all along," said Mammoth. "But we still have a chance. Specter is going to need a new vessel soon and once we have Geoffrey and Lucian under our control, we'll be in a better place to interrupt that. And if somehow he escapes to try again a few hundred years down the line I recently came up with a plan to ensure this world will be safe in the future." Mammoth then began to think to himself. _"And perhaps allow me to rule Mobius when once Sonic is old, dead and buried."_

* * *

The Babylon Rouges sat on the edge of the deck of their airship looking around at the ruins, the feathers of their wings and the open sky above only the occasional sigh escaping their beaks. Sally and Sonic came over to them.

"The mission didn't go the way we wanted," said Sally. "But it was through no fault of your own. You fulfilled your part of the bargain you can go wherever you want now."

"We saw his face just before we lost him," said Corva. "In that moment I could tell, even after being sealed away for ten thousand years Angelus wanted to be reconciled with the Babylonians, set them on the right path. He undid the curse to give us a chance against somethin' worse coming."

"Ixis," said Sonic. "Don't worry, whatever Specter has planned for him we'll get Angelus back."

Jet stood up holding his hand out. "If you plan on stealing the god of Babylon back then we're going to help you do it. This partnership is going to last a little bit longer. Just find where Specter is, and we'll steal back everything he's taken."

Sonic took Jet's hand. "Keep this up and you just might go straight."

"Yeah, I don't see that happening. But we owe the descendants of Babylon the truth and Specter owes us some payback."

"You'll get the chance to try it soon," said Sally. "Only one of the elemental essences is left, the essence of water, but we just happen to know where it is and therefore where the Order of Ixis is going to strike next. Make whatever preparations you need then set your course for Angel Island."

Jet gave a thumbs up. "We'll see you there then."

"In the meantime, I'll see if I can whip up a few gizmos to give us an edge," said Wave.

Storm pounded his fist in his hand. "These Ixis guys are going to regret messin' with us!"

"Angelus trusted us with these wings," said Corva. "We're going to show that that trust wasn't misplaced."

They soon after they left the Rouge's airship Sally had gathered the Freedom fighters in the conference room. "I won't sugar coat things," said the Princess. "The Order of Ixis has put us on the backfoot, one we have only once chance left to stop them.

Bunnie turned to Silver. "Why did you have to give the lamp to them?! We could have tried to put that windbag back in ourselves!"

"That lamp probably used Ixis Magik to work," said Gold. "They were the only ones who could get Angelus back under control."

"She's right mon chere (my dear)," said "Antione. "If anyone we should blame Snively and zhose mechanical malcontents for making things worse."

"Still something is bothering me about that," said Silver. "We were trying to convince Red Knight to stop fighting, but it was White Bishop who decided to listen. Why would a newly constructed robot with no apparent connection to that future be willing to give our story consideration?"

"I don't know," said Gold. "But when White Bishop spoke to me there was something strange. I couldn't read her mind, not that my power ever worked on machines, but I felt something almost familiar about her.

"A mystery for another day," said Nicole. "Right now though we have to focus on protecting Angel Island."

"I guess we're going to give Knuckles a call to expect us," said Rotor.

"He's not the only one," said Sally. "I want to get in touch with the Council and inform them of what happened, then contact Big and Cream so they can join us there and I have a few more calls planned after that. The black emerald and Chaos are all Specter needs to carry out whatever his master plan is. He has been gathering followers and from the reaction Geoffrey and Lucian got it could be quite a few. This situation is going to be all hands-on deck, we're going to turn Angel Island into a flying fortress. Once we can secure the black emerald then we find Specter's hideout get back the essences he's already gathered, the Chaos Emeralds and our friends, if we can convince them to come home."

"We're really doing this," Tails sighed. "We're really going to fight Amy, aren't we?"

Sally tried to strike the best balance of honest and comforting. "Only if she forces us to."

Sonic grumbled. "Fiona, sure, Geoffrey, fine, Hershey, didn't know her that well but I'd understand staying with her husband, Lucian, I had my doubts about him, but I never thought Amy of all people would be on the other side of a fight from us."

"You ok?" Sally asked. "I thought you both moved on from how she felt about you."

"Not much for me to move on from, but I get the feeling there's still a lot that Amy left unsaid and just maybe that's what led her to making the choice she did. I just hope her still believing we're friends is how she really feels.

Sally leaned over the table and covered her head. "I hope so too, because if she doesn't then this will be one fight with no winners, only losers."


	18. Dawn of the Darkest Day

Chapter 17

Dawn of the Darkest Day

Sonic tapped his foot as he looked through the viewport out to the clouds they were flying through. "I wish we could get to Angel Island faster. Why did the ancient Echidna have this place drift so widely across the world?"

"Be thankful that they did," Sally said from the captain's chair. "The island's path is taking it over Freedom City so Big, Cream, Blaze and Marine just needed a lift by a Republic airship."

"Sounds good," Tails said from the pilot's seat. "So, what's the plan?"

"We'll discuss it at the joint briefing at Echidnoapolis once all the reinforcements arrive, a couple of hours at most."

"Reinforcements?" asked Rotor from engineering. "How many are we talking about here?"

"In addition to Echidnaopolis, the Dingo Coalition and the Fire Ants I managed to get members sent in from all of the Freedom Fighter divisions except for the Nerb Freedom Fighters who are still cleaning up the damage the Deadly Six left. When I said this situation was all hands on-deck, I meant It. This could be our last chance to find out what Specter's master plan for the Chaos Emeralds and these elemental essences is, I'm throwing everything was can spare at it."

Antione spoke from tactical. "That's quite ze army, but isn't it, how you say, overkill?"

"It's all part of a plan to keep them from figuring out where the emerald is long enough to capture and interrogate one of them into finding their hideout."

"And the sooner the better!" said Whip. "The faster we reclaim my essence, the faster I can return to my majestically glorious self."

"Sounds good to me Sally Girl," Bunnie said from communications. "I'd have just liked to have known sooner than minutes from landin' and quite frankly it's kind of odd."

Sally suddenly seemed nervous. "What are you talking about?"

Nicole spoke while keeping an eye on the radar. "Well, ever since Babylon you've been…secretive. You spent the whole trip until now locked in your cabin, sending and receiving encrypted transmissions, you asked to have Sonic bring dinner to you. Honestly, we're all worried."

Sally sighed. "I just want this to go perfectly, with Viktor making new weapons like the robots we fought yesterday we can't afford to fight a war on two fronts and whenever someone like Specter had ever gathered that many Chaos Emeralds it's never turned out good."

"Don't sweat it everybody," said Sonic. "We'll get Amy and the others back, return everything the Pick-a-Card club have stolen then everyone can focus on all these weddings everybody has coming up."

"We'll be there too," said Chip. "Even if you can't see us, you might not all have Sonic's fur but you're all true blue."

"Got that right," but as soon as Sonic said it, he thought back to a private meeting he had last night with Sally.

* * *

"If this is a joke, I'm not laughing."

Sally was taking a long hard look out the porthole in her cabin. "I wish my brother had just told a really bad joke, but Harvey Who backed it up with hard data."

"So, the Wolf Pack and Felidae warriors guarding the Black Emerald were attacked by some Ixis Wizards, it was just three guys and they were forced to run away."

"It wasn't that they failed to get the Black Emerald Sonic, it's the that they even knew where to look to begin with. The Order of Ixis has a spy in the Freedom Fighters."

Sonic's quills bristled. "Alright we've had traitors before; Drago Wolf and Sleuth Dawg just to name two; but there's no way it's a member of this team, we've been through too much together!"

"Not many in the Freedom Fighters knew this information and the only other people who did know are either directly involved or connected to the Council."

"Then maybe it's one of them. Charlie's close to Lucian and Fiona, maybe he was working with Masquerade the whole time!"

"From the small number of Ixis Wizards it seemed to have been a scouting mission that was planned suddenly so they got the information very recently. Charlemagne was only let in during a party to watch the Babylon Cup and the attack happened during the race, he didn't have the time to tell anyone."

"Alright Mars then, he's Hershey's uncle and that grumpy cat was never a sure friend to the Freedom Fighters."

"The Council and their families were the first people Elias and Harvey investigated, none of them had any suspicious activity for the past month. Besides when Mars was told about Hershey being pregnant his response was 'Tell me again when my second niece won't be raised in some bizarre cult, then it will be good news,' He's no friend to the Order of Ixis either."

Sonic sighed in frustration. "I hate to say it, but have we looked into Lupe, Queen Hathor and Professor Pickle?"

"All cleared, Lupe and Hathor would not have had their own people attacked and Professor Pickle hasn't left his library or spoke with anyone other than his assistant since that meeting. It can't be either of us since no transmissions were sent from inside the Sky Patrol and both of our movements in here were recorded, but everyone else has gaps where they could have been alone and sent something."

"Wait, Silver, Gold and Blaze. Maybe if they thought giving this to the Order would keep me alive, they might have done it to save the future. Still a bad call but an understandable one."

"I'm having them checked out too, but we can't rule everyone else out either. I don't want to believe they could betray us, but Mammoth has shown that Ixis Wizards are capable of both mind control and creating magical duplicates so we can't rely on motive to find our spy. The only way to find them is to catch them in the act."

Sonic sighed. "Well if they're in trouble better to know now so we can help them, so what's the plan?"

"I've come up with a strategy that will keep Chaos from Specter while accomplishing two other goals. First is catching an Ixis Wizard, hopefully Amy or one of our other friends, to get the location of the Ixis base, second is to find out who the spy really is."

* * *

Sonic shook himself back to the present, _"I still don't like hiding this from my friends,"_ he thought to himself. _"The fate of the world is at stake we can't have this spy doing what they want anymore, but I refuse to believe any of you are traitors. Tails, Bunnie, Rotor, Antione, Nicole, if you really have given this info to the Order please have a REALLY good reason for it."_

"I'm getting a signal from Angel Island," said Bunnie. "I'm patchin' her through."

"Attention airship, this is Echidnaopolis Tower," said an unfamiliar voice. "Please provide your identity, purpose and destination."

"This is the Freedom Fighter airship Sky Patrol," Sally said to a panel on the captain's chair. "We're arriving to provide additional security and are requesting permission to land at Echidnaopolis airport over."

"I have the Sky Patrol scheduled to arrive today, please transmit your verification code now." Sally nodded to Nicole who tapped a few keys on the console. "Your verification code checks out, permission granted to land at pad four, I was also told to inform you that all other Freedom Fighter allied transport and the Babylon Rouges have been cleared and landed. We are sending you an approach vector, enjoy your stay on Angel Island."

"Zhat was more welcoming zhen I expected," said Antione. "I never thought echidna security would get to be so accommodating."

Sally looked at Antione with a sigh of relief. "Well if we didn't have the right verification code we'd have been blown out of the sky by their new defensive guns."

"I see the Dark Legion hasn't completely mellowed out," said Rotor.

Tails began to go into a slight dive. "We should be getting a visual on the island now."

The Sky Patrol broke through the clouds and the Freedom Fighters were greeted with a majestic view of the floating island.

"Never get tired of seeing that," Sonic said to no one in particular.

As the aircraft came closer a modern looking city came to view near the middle of the island.

"Y'all could barely tell it was once leveled," said Bunnie. "From how fast they rebuilt I'm guessing the Angel Island echidna had to budge on the whole 'no technology' thing."

"Well they have to live with not only the Dark Legion but the Nocturnus as well," said Nicole. "I'm not surprised some compromise was made given the situation, I just hope that the hatchet stays buried this time."

Near the back of the bridge Gold and Silver had their eyes fixed on the city. {We're almost at the city Blaze,} Silver thought. {How are you and Marine holding up?}

{Marine is fine,} Blaze replied through the mental link. {Me, not so much. Getting up here was nerve racking and even now I get the occasional reminder that we're on an island floating in the sky.}

{You're still afraid of heights?} Gold said. {Of all the things to carry over when you forgot the future why that?}

{I don't know, I can push through it if must, but I am always thankful to get back to the ground afterward.}

{Don't worry,} thought Marine. {Now that I'm in on your mental link I can help with any sudden feelings of panic if they show up instantly.}

{Thanks, but if what Gold told us is true my Acrophobia might be the least of our worries.}

Gold inwardly sighed. {I couldn't get much on pre-imperium history back in the future that wasn't propaganda, but what information on the Freedom Fighters we did have mentioned a battle at Angel Island that tore them apart. If I'm right, then this operation will go down as "The Freedom Fighter's Darkest Day" and all I know about it is that friendships that had lasted years could be broken forever.}

{We can't let that happen!} said Marine. {We just must have to make sure everyone stays friends!}

{But we don't know what happened to cause such a break,} Silver said. {But I have two ideas what it could be. If we're lucky Sonic's death was the trigger so stopping this was our mission anyway.}

{And the second?}

{That it was caused by events that must occur or nothing we ever did will have never happened.}

Marine mentally groaned. {I was afraid you were going to say that.}

{Gold,} said Blaze. {Since I already let Marine in on our secret shouldn't you tell Big? I mean with the Soultouch…}

{No, he's… too gentle, I couldn't bear to put him through all this. Besides he'll need to focus on the battle, the best way I can help is to not have these worries distract him. Once this is over, I'll come clean.}

{Looks like we're about to touch down,} said Silver. {We'll pick this up face to face.}

The Sky Patrol came in and landed on the assigned pad, moments later the Freedom Fighters left the airship and were greeted by Knuckles and Julie-Su. "Good to see you again guys," the guardian said as he took Sonic's hand.

"Good to see you too Knucklehead," said Sonic. "I see Julie decided to rock that same synth skin stuff Bunnie uses on occasion."

Julie stroked her now organic looking antenna quill with an organic looking left arm. "It helped some of the older Angel Islanders ease into letting technology back into their lives. Even after everything with the Twilight Cage and the gene bomb things were touchy for a while, even now there are many arguments, but for the first time it really feels like we can be one people again."

Knuckles grumbled. "Unfortunately, the biggest thing doing that now is the return of the Order of Ixis, the idea of the echidna civilization's oldest enemy launching an attack on Angel Island has got everybody on edge."

"Even with all the Freedom Fighters coming to help?" asked Tails.

"In a way because of it, some people think that if we need this much help it must be bad."

"Because it probably is," said Sally. "I'll explain more when we start the briefing at Echidna Security Team headquarters."

"Thankfully the Forget Me Knots were already here to put on a concert to welcome the Echidna back so Mina's singing should help calm them down. Before the briefing starts Relic wants us to stop by the Hall of Learning, something about new developments with the Black Emerald."

Bunnie gave a nod. "Then we better…"

"Sonic, Chip, Whip and I will go there right away," Sally interrupted. "This will give the rest of you a chance to catch up with friends in other divisions before we get to work."

"Uh, thanks?" said Tails.

"I'll escort them to headquarters," Julie said just before planting a kiss on Knuckles' cheek. "See you soon babe."

After Julie escorted the rest of the Freedom Fighters to a waiting transport Sonic gave Knuckles a playful poke in the ribs. "Seems to me like you two had been making up for lost time, I bet your wedding is going to be the event of the year up here."

Knuckles slumped over. "Seriously, everyone was so busy building a home here we haven't had time to plan anything. Finding compromises between two factions that had differing views on how to use technology with people who were traditionally anti-tech, setting up a government that all three factions and the dingoes would find palatable, Nestor playing peacemaker seemingly every ten minutes, Shade and Remington establishing a combined security force, even Lien-da and Finitivus went to straight to work on the security force and defense system against the Ascendancy after the second take of their wedding."

"It must have been tough," said Sally. "I know how hardheaded the Echidna can be even when everything is going smoothly."

"We had our share of bumps, but a few unifying moments too. There's one you have to see when we get to the Hall of Learning."

"Sounds good, but once we're alone I have a favor to ask, it's about something else we came to do." Sally turned to the two earth spirits. "And given the stakes here you have to know as well."

* * *

Within the temple's idol chamber Specter stood before all the Ixis wizards his heralds had managed to recruit. They weren't all in the temple, they'd be packed like sardines otherwise, but he saw them through various images to where they had secretly gathered through which they could see him.

"Children of Ixis the time has come for you to at last show yourselves to the world, today you will be sent to Angel Island to find the last thing we need to begin the Great Illumination. The foolish and the misguided will try to stop you, but our victory was foretold in the Grand Design."

"Glory to the Order!" the cloaked followers said from the images. "Eternal power to Ixis!"

"The foes you will face are powerful indeed, but the Heralds will send elementals to aid you. While the Essence of Water is destined to be ours this battle will strain both sides, our foes will fall into despair as they question their bonds, but at the same time your faith will be tested and most if not all of you will fail."

"Never my lord!" the wizards shouted back.

"Do not fear faltering for it is written in Grand Design that it is in the Darkest Day when all despair blankets the world, then the Great Illumination will shine forth and the truth will forever be etched into hearts of Ixis' children."

"Hail Lord Specter! Hail Lord Specter!"

"Now make your final preparations, I will let you know when we attack." The images faded as Ixis turned to the Heralds behind him. "Ready your elementals, the battles will distract our foes long enough for you to find where the Essence of Water is hidden and claim it as foretold in the Grand Design."

Amy stepped forward, she and Hershey seemed to be near the end of their pregnancy. "Master I don't question the will of Ixis, but I have concerns. Up until now we avoided direct confrontation with the Freedom Fighters, but they won't leave the Black Emerald unguarded. I never wanted to hurt them."

"Sometimes the sacrifices Ixis asks of us are great, as painful as this will be you are ensuring your child's destiny to spread the truth of Ixis past this world. Once this is over with, your friends will thank you."

Geoffrey then stepped up with Amy, "My lord with all due respect I worry about my wife and child. Hershey is in no condition to battle and neither is Amy, they could go into labor at any moment."

Specter's mask made him hard to read to the skunk. "The Grand Design requires you all to there, but I can assure you that no harm will befall the young ones, if any risk to the children emerges, I will intervene personally."

"Thank you, my Lord."

"I will send the signal shortly. In the meantime, I need you to be nearby."

With a bow the five were wrapped in stone, wind, flame, water and pink light before flying off. The moment they left Specter began coughing heavily enough to need him to remove his mask to cover his mouth with his hand. When he stopped, he saw Charlemagne's blood in the palm of his possessed hand. _"This body will not last much longer,"_ he thought. _"But it soon won't matter. After we get last essence it will bring to me the true final piece to elemental war, the culmination of a score millennia of preparation, a perfect vessel."_

* * *

Chip growled as Knuckles brought them into the Hall of Learning. "I refuse to believe it, there has to be another explanation. These Ixis guys can use magic right?! Maybe they found the Black Emerald was here from a spell, then they wouldn't need a traitor!"

Sally shook her head. "If that were the case, the Order probably would have found the essences of earth and air a month ago at least. Hopefully, we can clear everyone and find what is really going on."

"I'm not surprised in the least," said Whip. "You cells are so fickle and easily manipulated, with the number of wars on this planet even before the Xorda I'm surprised there's enough life for me and my counterpart to need to…"

"Bo-bo!"

A tiny echidna wearing blue footie came toddling up to Knuckles before banging a well-used looking rattle against his thigh.

Knuckles squatted down to the tyke who now began using the rattle on the guardian's head before he was picked up to out of his little arms reach. "Hey Kneecaps, come to your Bo-bo. What are you doing here you little rascal?"

"Excuse me," an Echidna woman in yellow robes said to a guard down the hall. "My baby boy Knecapeon Mace wandered off, have you seen him?"

"Ma-ma!" Kneecaps reached for his mother.

"I got him mom," Knuckles called out. "He's perfectly safe."

Lara-le came up and gave a sort bow. "It's nice to see you again Sonic, your highness. I'm sorry about this, since he started walking Kneecaps has been quite the little explorer."

Sally laughed. "I have a step-niece his age who's been the same way to my brother and sister-in-law, something tells me they'd be fast friends. So, what brings you to a scientific research lab?"

Lara took the toddler from Knuckles' grip and sat him on her arm. "I have a checkup with a doctor here today, I was just about to drop Kneecaps off at the daycare before then."

"We were actually on our way there," said Knuckles. "I wanted to show Sonic and Sally the puggles before meeting Relic."

"Ugh, do we really have time to look at more brats?" grumbled Whip. "If something is happening to a vessel that can hold an essence like ours, I'd rather know now."

"It's something Athair told me to check in on while I was here, don't worry it shouldn't take long."

"Still this doesn't seem to be the sort of place a family doctor would set up an office, what kind of checkup would you do here?" Sonic asked as they turned a corner.

Lara saw Knuckles shoot a concerned look at her direction. "One that needs a specialist, I can't say any more, we decided to keep it a family matter."

Knuckles sighed as he remembered when the hard truth hit nearly a month ago.

* * *

"Why have you both been seeing Finitivus?" Knuckles asked his mother and stepfather Wynmacher, Julie-su stood nearby watching silently. "I know everyone's supposed to be putting the past behind them and try to move on to a new future together but from what I heard this started before you got out of the Twilight Cage and when the issue of technology comes up you've been siding with the Nocturnus when I remember you would usually be hesitant about reintroducing it. Whatever changed had to have been while you were banished so tell me what happened."

Wynmacher sighed. "We didn't want you to worry about your mother, not when you're already worrying about the rebuilding, Robotnick and this new Order of Ixis."

"Why would I be worried about…"

"Dear," Lara interrupted. "Can you take Julie and see if Knecapeon's awake yet? I think it would be best if he just learned it mother to son."

"Of course," said Wynmacher. "I'm sure my boy's eager to play by now."

After Wyn and Julie left Lara looked out the window to the setting sun. "I'm sorry I wasn't there to comfort you when your father died. As far as we had drifted apart, despite what he did you and that he stood with the Brotherhood of Guardians instead of letting me help to raise you, you still loved him. I loved him too once, maybe a part of me still does, but I had to move on and live my life. When Knecapeon was born I thought I had what I was denied, a chance to raise a son in a loving home, but nothing is ever simple is it?"

Knuckles took her hand. "What are you talking about?"

Lara took a deep breath and looked into her son's eyes. "I was made to mine ore in one of the Imperator's mines. But while that was happening, I began frequently getting short on breath, my bones ached even after a full night's rest and my short-term memory had been going in and out. Once the overseer learned about this I was taken out and not given any more labor, he said even a dying prisoner should make the most of the time they have. I found out I contracted a rare disease, the Nocturnus called it The Long Requiem, there is no cure."

Knuckles grabbed his mother. "We can take you to Freedom City! They have the best doctors…"

"We're already working on it my son. After Finitivus became sane again and found out about my condition he thought he could make a treatment by using technology derived by the Voxai and it shows a lot of promise. The gene bomb interrupted the planning stage, but he's been working on this treatment every spare moment his wife can give him. It should be ready in a few weeks and then we'll know if it works."

"And if it doesn't?"

Lara looked back out to the sunset. "Then I have seven, maybe eight years left."

Knuckles punched a nearby table breaking it as tears began flowing from his eyes. "This isn't fair! I just got you back I can't lose you again, not after everything I've been through! My little brother needs a mom, someone to see him grow up to be a man! Wyn needs his wife, everyone who looks up to you needs you!"

"Knuckles you can't fix everything; it simply is what it is. Like I said the tests so far look good, we just have to wait until he can finish making the needed machine."

"Mom, I wish I could have been the sort of guardian you would have been proud of."

Lara cupped her son's cheek. "You already are, I might not have agreed on every choice you made, but you took this mantle well. But if the worst does happen, I'm going to need to do two things. First if possible, I'd like whatever children you have be given the choice on whether they wish to be a Guardian or not. Second, I need you and Julie to help Wyn look after your brother, by then he'll be old enough to understand what death is, let him know that even if I'm not there I still love him. Just like your father still loves you, and so do I."

Knuckles shook out the thought, _"The treatment would have already been done if we didn't need Finitivus' help preparing our defenses. I just have to make it through today, Mom's going to be there for Kneecaps, her grandkids and great-grandkids if I have anything to say about it."_

"We're here," said Lara as she put down Kneecaps before he toddled off to a stack of blocks before using his rattle to knock them over.

"Ah Knuckles, there you are," said a purple echidna female standing next to a crib. "Athair told me you'd be stopping by."

"Thanks for taking time off teaching to look after them today Komi-Ko," said Knuckles. "It's going to be a load off Remington's mind that you're on top of things here so he can focus on the defense. How are they?"

"See for yourself," she motioned to the inside of the crib. Sonic and Sally looked in and found two tiny baby echidnas; a red boy and a pink girl; laying on their stomachs and looking at each other only wearing diapers and happily sucking on pacifiers.

Sally gasped. "Is that…?"

Knuckles nodded. "Aurora and Enerjak, they hatched a couple of weeks ago. Nothing quite unites your people like knowing the goddess of life and the god of destruction had been reborn among you after reconciling millennia worth of differences."

Sonic looked at the babies curiously. "Are there any signs that they remember who they are?"

Komi-ko shook her head. "Athair said that their memories are probably buried deep within their minds, he doesn't think they'd be able to understand them in their current state. As much reverence and fear we gave each of them respectively it was decided it's best to just treat them like the sweet innocent little babies they seem to be." The two each dropped their pacifiers as they gave big yawns, Komi-ko gently turned each of them over on their backs. "And for right now that means nap time."

Chip smiled at the sight. "So much potential, at this point there's only endless possibilities ahead of them." He turned to Whip. "Isn't it incredible?"

"From their viewpoint I guess," said the dragon sprite. "Although as I see it all these cells are newborns for their whole lives in comparison to us."

"Excuse me," said a red echidna standing in the door with bushy brown eyebrows, a pair of glasses, a brown trench coat and numerous cybernetics. "I don't want to interrupt but Relic is starting to get anxious."

"Sorry about that," said Knuckles. "This is Cobar, he was the Dark Legion's top scientist for years but since coming back from the Twilight Cage he's been collating the accumulated the knowledge of all three tribes into a combined archive. He and Relic have gotten to be good friends, REALLY good friends if you catch my drift."

"Actually, I have been corresponding with Rotor as well," the Scientist said trying to change the subject with a blush. "He was quite helpful troubleshooting a few mechanical problems. But I'm supposed to get you to the Chaos Energy Research Laboratory, we'll be able to explain what's going better if we show you."

"I have to get to my appointment as well," said Lara-le. "Be careful out there everyone."

As they came left the daycare Kneecaps noticed the door was slightly ajar.

"Bo-bo."

* * *

Cobar brought them into a room that seemed to be equal parts scientific laboratory and museum. The blue pika looked up from a magnifying glass that was fixed over a table. "Good you're here."

"Sorry for the delay," said Sonic. "But what was so important that we had to hold up the mission briefing?"

"Take a look," Relic motioned for everyone to come to the table and placed the magnifying glass into position.

Sonic gazed into the glass at the relic known as both the Ancient Onyx and the Black Emerald, but unlike the last couple of times Sonic had seen it a noticeable crack was visible on top of the gem. "That's no good. The last time this was cracked opened Station Square was nearly destroyed."

"What happened?" asked Sally. "Did it get dropped or damaged by those scouts?"

"That's the strange thing, from Cobar's analysis the initial fissure started about a month ago, then I had it secured in the house the Chaotix built for me. They only started to get noticeable within the last week and it seems to have accelerated yesterday."

Chip flew up to the emerald and held his hand out to it. "I sense nine presences inside, but one is in deep pain. It began to feel others like it, and felt their power being taken from them. Sonic, I recognize one those moments! It was when our essence was stolen!"

"Then the one in in pain has got to be Chaos," said Knuckles.

"The timing matches up," said Sally. "It began cracking a month ago, about when they took Iblis from Blaze, the two Gaias were depowered days ago and Angelus was taken yesterday. Somehow he began to recognize that others like him were being violated."

Sonic noticed the crack grow a centimeter longer. "Doesn't sound like he'd be happy if he got out."

Sally looked up from the magnifying glass. "Tikal and the server chao are probably trying to ease that pain or hold him back, but if the Order of Ixis gets a hold of this it won't matter they'll just seal him in a new prison like they did Iblis. Even if he gets free since Specter has all the Chaos Emeralds, Chaos himself won't be able to reach full power, he won't be able to resist."

"I wouldn't count him out yet," said Whip. "Chaos might require an external source of power to access his full power, but it won't always be that way."

"Not to mention the server chao," said Knuckles. "Even after the Great Harmony they still might be able to become super emeralds but I only see that happening in this case if Chaos is willing to fight with us and even then I say only as an absolute last resort."

Sally nodded. "Thanks for letting us know but now we have to get ready to move this thing, Angel Island just isn't safe enough for it anymore. We still need it as bait to find where Specter's hiding but after the operation today we'll move it into the vaults under Freedom City until the current crisis is over, Eggman built those to contain powerful artifacts and weapons like this."

Cobar nodded. "We still have an analysis running on the emerald's integrity, but once it's over we'll take it to the agreed secure location."

"In that case we better get to Echidna Security Team Headquarters," said Sonic.

After the Freedom Fighters left and the two scientists continued their work no one noticed Kneecaps come into the room, or that a orange ball of light left the black emerald and stop right in front of the toddler.

"Oooooooo."

* * *

At E.S.T. H.Q. several Freedom Fighters were gathered in a large briefing room, everyone was waiting for the actual meeting to begin.

Over in one corner Big took Gold's hands "I missed you Goldie,"

"I missed you too," said the Tenrec.

The frog on top of Big's head croaked.

"Yes Froggie, I missed you too."

Tails and Cream sat down on two folding chairs that were quickly set up. "So, how's your first trip to Angel Island been so far?" Tails asked.

"Lovely, I can tell that the Echidna think this place is special. That's why everyone is so eager to protect it." Cream looked down. "But that means no matter what happens today someone's going to get hurt."

Tails sighed. "I know, this isn't like when Eggman attracted people to the Dark Egg Legion by preying on the greedy and the desperate. Amy, Lucian, Geoffrey, Hershey, Fiona, almost everyone Specter's throwing at us is doing this because one way or another they believe they're the good guys. You're brave, agreeing to fight when it's the last thing you want.

"The thing I hate about fighting is that it hurts people but if me fighting, even having to hurt someone myself will keep someone else from getting hurt worse then I'll hate myself for it but it's something I'm willing to do if there is simply no other way. Father felt the same way and that was what first got mother to fall in love with him."

Tails took Cream's hand. "Hopefully once this is over and we can stop the Order of Ixis and the Robotnick Ascendancy for good, none of us will ever have to fight again."

Nearby Nicole was inspecting a pair of chrome gauntlets Shard had on his forearms and hands. "So, they absorb the shock of the impact by converting kinetic energy into thermal, how often does the heat need to be vented?"

"About an hour after normal use," said Shard. "Fifteen minutes if I'm really slugging it out. But I prefer to do it sooner as a tactical move, the venting creates a steam cloud that can mask my position, good for hit and run tactics. How about that cyber suit any lag time while interfacing?"

"About a .02 second delay, unnoticeable for most but it gets annoying since as a digital being the only lag I experienced before was my own processing power. Still I'm grateful that my most useful skills can still help my friends."

"We really miss those hacking skills at the Secret Freedom Fighters. You know with Silver focusing all his attention on protecting Sonic there's been an opening on the team for over a month, you and me working together on a regular basis would be, nice."

"I, I can't do that to Sally, between Viktor and Specter she needs me now more than ever. She always stood up for me, even when I became Iron Nicole she knew the real me was somewhere inside Regina's spell, those horrible days when I was ostracized from New Mobotropolis it felt all the worse because she wasn't there to help me and I was beginning to think it was because it was my fault. I think you'll eventually find someone who will be able to help you out, but I'll come help whenever I can, after all I love you."

Nearby Mighty sighed at the sight of the couples, Ray put a hand on his shoulder. "It's ok brother, we'll get Fiona back."

A green armadillo girl crossed her mechanical arms with built in pile drivers. "Ok you had a bit of a history with this girl, you each thought the other was attractive and that was how you got into this whole soultouch thing, but you getting all mopey about a vixen who was only really your girlfriend for a day doesn't make sense to me. If we didn't have our DNA patched over then she'd just be someone you knew once and hadn't seen in years and for a lot of that time she was on the opposite side of you."

Ray looked at the girl with sympathy. "Matilda, your story and Fiona's actually have a lot in common. You were both captured by Robotnick and suffered because of it, you both chose to do bad things because you felt it was the only way to survive, you both also closed yourselves off because you lost faith in people."

Suddenly Mighty spoke up. "There's one more thing and it applies to me too. Like the two of us she is the child of criminals."

The stoic girl raised an eyebrow. "You never just straight up admitted that about Mom and Dad before, usually you tried to make up some excuse for them getting locked up."

"I talked with Fiona's parents while she was still missing and listening to their story it made me realize that our parents could love us intently and still have made selfish choices. It's cruelly ironic but while I used this strength Mammoth gave me to protect the weak when it mattered the most, I couldn't save the ones most important to me. You, Mom, Dad, Ray and Fiona; I couldn't free her from Robotnick and it planted a seed of bitterness that almost choked all that was good right out of her, even after we fell in love she got brainwashed into helping Specter because I didn't check on how she was doing as soon as I got back!"

"Brother," said Matilda. "We hadn't been back together long, but I can tell even more than Ray your one constant companion has been guilt. You don't have to keep blaming yourself for those you couldn't save, the Freedom Fighters are trying to get her and the others back so you're not alone in this."

Mighty took a breath. "Thanks, still I know deep down she wants me to be the one to rescue her."

Ray spotted Marine across the room. "If you'll excuse me there's someone I need to catch up with."

Matilda shook her head as she watched the raccoon and flying squirrel embrace. "I get all the changes the two of them went through had made him that way, but it still seems weird to see you two each obsess over some girl."

Mighty smiled at his sister. "Well Tilly one day, and it might come sooner than you think, you'll find someone who you'll probably obsess over." Mighty then looked as if he was trying to glare a hole into an invisible someone. "But whoever it is better respect you or …"

Matilda shoved her clenched mechanized fist an inch from Mighty's nose. "He'll get this," she said like she commented that it looked like it was going to rain.

Mighty suddenly went from nervous to laughing. "Sis, I'm convinced once you are comfortable enough to get out of your emotional shell, you'll have more friends than you'll know what to do with."

Matilda gave the barest hint of a smile.

"Alright everyone, listen up!" Remington yelled from near a podium. "The Guardian, Princess Sally and Sonic have arrived so it's time to get this briefing started!"

Sally came up to the podium as everyone else took a seat. "Thank you all for coming, Echidna Security Team and Freedom Fighters alike. First, I'd like to hold a roll call of who's here from each division who pledged support. Let's start with the Artic Freedom Fighters."

"Guntiver here along with Erma Ermine and Augustus Polar Bear," said the Artic Wolf.

"Good, next Dragon Kingdom."

Dulcy stood up. "I brought Ken Khan and Cinder Pheasant."

"Thank you for personally coming empress. Crazy Kritters."

King Rob O' the Hedge stood. "Bow Sparrow, Thorn the Lop and myself pledge ourselves to your cause."

"We're glad to have you your highness. Downunda Freedom Fighters."

Walt Wallby stood seeming a little antsy. "Barby Koloa, Wombat Stu and I are ready for a ripper of a fight."

"Glad to hear it," Sally fiddled with the list on the podium confused. "Desert Raiders? I'm not sure I've heard you before."

An orange porcupine shakenly stood up with a mint green colored fennec fox and a large purple mole. "Spike the Porcupine here, these are my friends Sonar the Fennec and Treavor Burrow. You might not have heard much from us because… we collaborated with the Midesta Dark Egg Legion. Their leader was a mother to us when we were orphaned, she joined Eggman to keep us out of harm's way. All our fights were staged to keep a perpetual stalemate in the region, we didn't think we could win so an unending tie was the best we could hope for, until Eggman's brainboxes made us drop the act."

"Hey, don't be so down on yourselves," said Sonic. "You didn't want hurt to family and made a mistake; fact is you're here today so you can make up for it by helping us save the world!"

Spike, Sonar and Trevor gave a salute. "Thanks Sonic, we won't let you down!"

Sally nodded as the trio sat back down. "Forty Fathom Freedom Fighters."

A clam in a tank was lifted by two Mobians who seemed very unusual to the rest of the room. They resembled a grey shark and purple dolphin that instead of resembling mobini like most oceanic Mobians they were closer to normal Mobians with more humanoid bodies complete with arms and legs. The shark even had a dark green Chao with a spiky ball hovering over him, fin like wings and a mouth full of sharp looking teeth."

"Uh Bivalve here," said the Clam. "The FFFF weren't sure we'd actually be able to help that much but Ray the Manta managed to convince the King and Queen of Meropis to allow two members of the team who live there to come up here with me."

"Meropis?" asked Sally.

"It's an undersea city in the middle of the Central Sea, Meropians are more like you surface Mobians than the rest of us sea folk but they had been extremely cautious of the surface for thousands of years. But now they're on our side so let me introduce Razor the Shark and Echo the Dolphin."

"I'm technically on loan from the city guard," said Echo. "But I'll give it my all.

"Don't forget my buddy Crusher here," Razor said pointing to the chao. "He may have started out as a crybaby but now he's tough as nails."

Cheese flew over and tried to shake Crusher's hand, but a growl from the fierce chao made him hide behind Cream's leg.

Sally gave the sea dwellers a thumbs up. "Well once this is over, I hope Meropis and the rest of the world can enjoy a long and prosperous friendship. Next not officially Freedom Fighters but allies none the less the Babylon Rouges."

"Oh, we're ready to scrap," Jet said as Wave, Storm and Corva gave nods in the affirmative.

"Malada Island Freedom Fighters."

Tangle, Sticks and Whisper stood up. "Being on real mission with you guys," said Tangle. "This is going to rock!"

"You said it!" said Sticks. "We're fighting with the real heroes now!"

"I'm…glad," Whisper whispered.

"Finally, the Secret Freedom Fighters."

Shard alone stood up. "Sadly, I'm all they could spare. We got intel this morning that Robotnick is planning some sort of major offensive on the United Federation, everyone else is trying to figure out where he's going to strike and I'm also here to make sure he doesn't take advantage of the situation up here."

"We'll take all the help we can get. Ok, that is all the pledged divisions now onto the briefing itself with the Echidna Security Team. You have all been called here because we're expecting an eminent attack from the Order of Ixis."

"For our Freedom Fighter allies and those on the security team who slept during that part of Echidna History class the Order of Ixis were an ancient group of wizards who in their attempts to take over Mobius ten thousand years ago started a war with Albion that lasted two centuries," said Remington. "Now a new group of wizards have taken their mantle and are targeting our home once again."

"Why?" Lien-Da asked near a group of Echidna with cybernetics. "I as much as I understand revenge as a motive if we're getting this much help from the outside then there's got to be more to it."

Sally nodded to former grandmaster. "What's been kept classified until now is that the Order of Ixis is trying to carry out some plan that involves Chaos Emeralds and the essences of beings who embody the elements they manipulate. All they need now is the Essence of Water from Chaos who slumbers within the Black Emerald, during the Phantom Ruby War that emerald was brought to Angel Island and the order already tried to take it."

Murmurs spread through the crowd. "Why not just move it?" asked Shade near a group of echidnas who like her were wearing form fitting black armor. "If they know it's here why not just hide it somewhere safer?"

"Because while defending this city and its people is our primary goal, we also have to think long term. This is our chance to capture and interrogate one of them, once we learn where the Order's hideout is, we can take back the Emeralds and the Essences they've already stolen and put a stop to them for good."

"We got the best teams on Mobius right here!" said Sonic. "If anyone can pull it off it's you guys!"

Applause came from the crowd before Sally motioned for them to return to silence.

"The Black Emerald itself will be moved from its current safehouse to a classified location. The plan is to confuse the Order by setting up several decoy teams as diversions. Once we capture one or more Ixis Wizards the Black Emerald will be sent via warp ring to the vaults under Freedom City, that should force the rest to retreat. To maximize security of the Black Emerald only the team guarding it will know its location, the rest will only be informed that their team is one of the decoys. The E.S.T. will make sure Echidnaopolis is protected while each division will be assigned to one the island's other zones along with a Knothole Freedom Fighter and a member of the Chaotix. Sonic and I will be on standby to help any team in trouble while Knuckles will keep watch over the Master Emerald."

"That's the plan," said Remington. "Now to give all teams their assigned zones. First off, Lien-da and Shade will be the E.S.T. field commanders in the city and will accompanied by Julie-su of the Chaotix and Nicole Ellidy of the Knothole Freedom Fighters."

"Ellidy?" asked Julie.

"Something I've taken to calling myself lately," said Nicole. "Long story."

"Whatever," said Lien-da. "We might be on the same side right now but don't expect me to sit down for tea and cookies anytime soon."

Shade shook her head. "She's really been getting better, but she isn't what you'd call sociable with most people."

Remington sighed at his Aunt's gruffness. "Rotor and Ray, you're teaming up with Artic Fighters in Ice Cap Zone."

"Just like home," said Augustus. "We should all be able to handle it no sweat."

"Speak for yourself," said Ray. "The rest of you may be used to the cold but I'm glad I added a scarf to my outfit."

"Dragon Kingdom will be teamed up with Blaze and Liza at Lava Reef."

"Are you sure you can handle this?" asked Blaze. "My fire powers can keep me safe from the lava flows but it's going to be very dangerous for the rest of you."

"Cinder has fire powers of her own and dragons like the empress have been known to use lava pools like hot tubs," said Ken. "As for me and Liza she managed to get some fire shields for us courtesy of Hope Kintobor, we'll take the heat."

"Hydrocity Zone goes to Big, Marine, Vector and the Forty Fathom Freedom Fighters"

"We're all the best swimmers so it makes sense," said Vector.

"I'm just glad to be able to stretch my legs," said Bivalve. "So to speak."

"Babylon Rouges you'll be teaming up Tails and Charmy at Sky Sanctuary Zone, oh and we've already catalogued all the relics up there, so we'll know if you've stolen anything."

"Spoilsports," grumbled Wave.

"Antione and Saffron will be assisting the Crazy Kritters at Mushroom Hill Zone."

"It will be an honor to be at your side," Antione said bowing to Rob.

"You guys can count on us!" said Saffron.

"Marble Garden Zone will be protected by the Malada Freedom Fighters alongside Espio and Silver."

Espio turned to the girls. "I am looking forward to seeing what Valdez's students have learned from him."

"Thanks," said Whisper.

"The Dingoes are covering most of Sandopolis Zone but the Desert Raiders, Cream, Mighty and Gold will be covering an identified hole in their parameter and give backup if requested."

"Chao, Chao," said Cheese.

"Don't worry," said Cream. "We'll bring plenty of water.

"Alright," said Spike. "Here's our shot at being real heroes for a change!"

"Finally, Sky Canyon is assigned to the Downunda Freedom Fighters, Bunnie and…huh, looks like we're out Chaotix to…"

Matilda raised her hand. "I'll go with them, Bunnie and I worked together in the Great Desert Chapter of the D.E.L. that should cover things in that department."

"Fine by us," said Barby. "We could use some Legionized muscle."

Remington nodded. "Thank you for volunteering Matilda, you'll all be told if your team is a decoy or the guards of the Black Emerald by Commander Acorn in induvial team meetings. Sky Sanctuary team please stay for your meeting, other teams please go to lobby and return when you're called, the rest of you, head out to your assignments."

As most of the assembled began to file out Sonic began to inwardly steel himself. He knew Sally split up their own team among all the others for two reasons, the surface was to give each group support from the most successful division but the hidden reason was to figure who in their team, their family, was a spy.

* * *

Up on the Colossus Snively had stepped out of the shower of his personal quarters, he had finally gotten off all the spray Geoffrey covered him in after burning his old clothes and had just wrapped a towel around his waist. Robotnick was pleased, that his new prototypes passed their performance test with flying colors, he and the S6 just got a "better luck next time" and was dismissed which looking back was a better reaction than normal but still not worth getting his butt handed back to him by the Sonic's insufferable band.

He was about to catch up on some much-needed sleep before a nearby communicator turned on as Regina's face appeared. "Snively!"

"AH!" The lackey nearly dropped his towel in surprise.

"Oh," Regina said with a blush. "Sorry I caught you at a bad time, but I need your help. Specter is going to launch a major attack today and once it's successful he'll carry out his plan for world domination. Can you get Viktor to send you on another mission?"

Snively sighed. "I think he forgot you were involved in the last one. Unless he can get something worthwhile, I don't see him bending over backwards for you."

"How about the exact location of the Temple of Ixis?"

Snivley had to keep his towel from slipping a second time. "You mean Specter's hideout!?"

"We need Viktor to launch an attack just as we're conducting an important ritual. I can't tell you the location directly, Specter has a way to find out if we're lying to him, but this plan should let him find us on his own. Once you get the ok I'll need you to wear some kind of tracking device for Viktor, then I'll send you some of the garments we give to initiates of order and you'll come back through the same gate in disguise after that all Robotnick has to do is follow the signal while you help us with our plan."

"I'll see what I can do my dear, Doctor Robotnick mentioned he was planning several simultaneous assaults today and I don't think he'll delay them."

"I can probably hold out until tomorrow but not much longer. I'll call you again once I have a safe opportunity to do so. Until then my Snively."

The communication cut off, Snivley went into his closet and picked out fresh outfit instead of the pajamas he had been planning to slip into. "Looks like bed will have to wait a little while longer."

* * *

Sonic, Sally, Knuckles, Chip and Whip were alone in the conference room after the last team left. Sonic grumbled as he leaned against the wall. "I hate this plan, we're lying to our friends, the Freedom Fighters, the people of Angel Island, everyone."

"I know," said Sally. "But this is the best option we have, and we never out and out lied we were just economical with the truth."

"It is a smart plan," said Knuckles. "Tell each team they're one of the decoys then I warp ring the emerald to the Freedom City Vaults and head back to the Master Emerald shrine before anyone notices the thing is gone."

"Once we have our prisoner, we'll get reports in from every division about who was attacked. If one of the teams is ignored, we can assume that the Order was told that team was a decoy and we'll have our spy."

"But the echidna are in danger over something that isn't going to be on the island anymore," said Chip. "And we can't even be sure there is a spy at all, they could just be lucky for all we know."

"Doubtful," said Whip. "But in my opinion, we should ignore the spy for now and focus on finding my essence."

"Look," said Knuckles. "It is the worst possible plan, except for all the others available. Right now, we should focus on the task at hand, for me that means heading back to Relic and getting…"

Suddenly a call came in on Sally's Miles Electric, Relic appeared on the screen. "Guys we have a problem! The Black Emerald is gone!"

"Gone!?" yelled Sonic. "I thought you were doing an analysis on that thing! How could you lose it?!"

"Cobar and I just turned our backs for a minute to follow some readouts when we came back around it was gone!"

Sally looked like she was beginning to have a panic attack. "If the Order managed to steal it already then all this planning was for nothing!"

"Now stay calm everyone," said Knuckles. "It might have just been misplaced."

"Knuckles!" Lara-Le and Wynmacher ran into the room. "Knecapceon snuck out of the daycare, we can't find your brother anywhere!"

"Ok, get the E.S.T. to keep an eye out for him and I'll join in once I find the black emerald, I should be able to sense it like Master and Chaos Emeralds." Knuckles closed his eyes. "The Hidden Palace? Why would someone bring it there?"

Knuckles used a warp ring to open a portal to where he sensed the emerald.

"Ma-ma, Da-da, Bo-bo!"

Kneecaps was on the other side holding the Black Emerald in a room none of them had ever seen before. As they all stepped through Sonic saw he was in a large rocky cavern around which he noticed seven daises with palm fronds laid out as if expecting to have something large placed on top of them. The center was dominated by a larger dais with green crystals holding up something he saw may times before.

"What is the Master Emerald doing in here?" asked Knuckles.

"How did my baby get from the daycare all the way here?!" Lara said as she scooped her child up.

"I brought the Master Emerald here," Athair said as he came from behind the Master Emerald's dais. "I did so when this little one came to with the one who lead us here and requested that I bring it with me."

An orange ball of light flew down and soon took the form of an orange female echidna wearing ancient looking clothing with gold necklace and headband.

"Tikal," said Sonic. "How are you here? Is this because the Black Emerald is cracking?"

The girl from ages past nodded. "Since the last time we met Chaos has begun to understand more of why he had been changed from an ordinary Chao to the elemental he is today, that he was meant to balance his power with others like him."

"Like us," said Chip. "Even when I didn't know the surface, I could feel other forces both pushing and pulling at us, trying to find a balance and harmony."

"But in recent days as that power was pulled from the others, he felt the need to escape, restore what was taken and bring his wrath on those responsible. He means to take what Chaos Emeralds he can to assume his perfect form and begin another cycle of disaster and tragedy."

"That's not possible," said Sally. "Since the Great Harmony there are only seven Chaos Emeralds accessible to Mobius, and right now all of those are in the hands of the Order of Ixis, the very same people taking essences. All Chaos would succeed in doing is walking right into their trap and give their leader Specter the last thing he needs to conquer the world!"

A tear fell from Tikal's eye. "Then it is even worse than I feared! Since Chaos cannot assume his perfect form, we cannot hope to resist the powers of the other three, we need to repair and seal the Black Emerald away from this world before all is lost!"

"Seal it away?" said Knuckles. "But that means you, Chaos and the Server Chao will be cut off from Mobius forever!"

Tikal's tears continued. "It is a sacrifice…"

"That is simply unacceptable!" huffed Whip. "Chaos' life force is tied to the power of water in this world now, if he is sealed away from it every puddle, stream, lake, river, and ocean will dry up, it would be the end of life on this planet! You'd cause the very thing you're trying to prevent!"

Sonic looked at Whip with a raised eyebrow. "Aren't you supposed to be all about destruction?"

"My awakenings are like a forest fire clearing away old growth so new growth can flourish. Even Iblis was supposed to represent both the destructive and creative aspects of fire until Mephiles the Dark had interfered thanks to those scientists and perhaps once it is sealed within Blaze again it can learn balance from her by the time her life ends. The point is our power is vital to this world and cutting us off from it is the last thing you want to do. But repairing the emerald and keeping it safe is the best out of our dwindling options."

"I don't get it but sounds good to me," said Wynmacher. "How can we fix this thing?"

Tikal nodded. "The Master Emerald has power over the Chaos Emerald, but to affect one physically it would need more power than it has, that is why I asked the little one to help me bring it into this chamber. It was built by the All-Seers, echidna who used Chaos Power to try to read the future and my mother's ancestors, and from their visions they foresaw the Great Harmony and the creation of the Master Emerald. If the server chao were to use this chamber to give their power to the Master Emerald, then it could restore the Black Emerald."

"But that would mean the server chao would forever lose the power to become Super Emeralds," said Athair. "Are they willing to make such a sacrifice?"

"It was them who told me of this plan, that they were meant to hold onto that power only for a time so that a prophecy would be fulfilled."

"Is this a good or bad prophecy?" asked Sally. "We've had our run ins with both kinds."

"According to the All-Seers there were to be three who would take our world into a bright future; The Avatar who would embody power of the Chaos Force and create the controller, The Chosen One who would bring about the Great Harmony by sealing most of the emeralds away from those who'd abuse them, and The Destined Hero who would bind new servers to be in touch with the controller allowing them to reach their greatest power in times creation would need it most."

"So, Knuckles is the Avatar and Tails is the Chosen One," said Athair. "But I've never heard of the Destined Hero."

"You need not look far," Tikal then pointed at hedgehog in the room. "For the Destined Hero is you Sonic!"

Sonic then pointed at himself. "Me?! Does this mean I'm going to turn into a living gem like Knuckles or get hideously muscleified like Tails did?"

Sally rolled her eyes. "You just learned you might have to save the universe itself and that's what you're worried about?"

"You need not worry about it for now," said Tikal. "For that task is still yet to come, but for now we need to call forth the Server Chao and Chaos from the Black Emerald so that it can be repaired. I will keep Chaos calm while the chao empower the master emerald. Knuckles they will need your help to give their power to the Master Emerald."

"Ok, let's do it."

Knuckles took the black gem from his baby half-brother and placed it on the ground. Eight lights left the black emerald from the crack, seven went to each of the other daises and each changed into a chao the eighth came over to Tikal and became a watery humanoid who tried to appear menacing but then fell to its knees.

Chip went over to the creature. "It's ok, Sonic's going to get all the essence back. We are going to be fine you do not have to fight.

Chaos nodded to Chip silently.

Knuckles and Tikal both waved their hand before the Master Emerald then began speaking aloud together. The chao each began to glow in a different color. "The servers are the seven Chaos. Chaos is power. Power is enriched by the heart. The heart is the controller. The controller serves to unify the chaos."

The colored light flew from each chao into the Master Emerald the chao then sat down looking tired. Tikal bowed her head toward them. "Thank you so much, please rest now. All we have to do now is use the power of Master Emerald to restore the Black Emerald."

"I'm afraid that's not in the cards."

Three things happened at once; a sharp looking gemstone flew out and shattered the Black Emerald, Chaos moved to protect Tikal and several orbs of energy sought out and struck the two of them and the seven Chao enveloping them in a strange barrier.

Sonic turned to find an opening had appeared in one side of the room where the Five Elite had just entered from.

"Amy!" Sonic and Sally shouted out at the same time.

Amy looked sad but resolved. "I am truly sorry, but that jewel was an unfit vessel for Essence of Water."

With a gesture Amy thrown all nine barriers into the Master Emerald. The Chao and Tikal screamed as it looked like the giant gem was absorbing them.

"Sonic listen to me!" yelled Tikal. "Don't let Specter deceive you! Remember what the Titans did for this world, that's to only way to…!"

Before she could finish Tikal, Chaos and the server chao were pulled into the Master Emerald.

Everyone turned back to Amy and the Elite. "The Master Emerald is the Vessel of Water that the Grand Design requires. I beg you let us have it and no will be hurt, now or ever again."

"No one will be hurt?!" yelled Knuckles. "Without the Master Emerald, Angel Island will fall! We would be safe if we were over deep water, but over dry land the island would shatter into pieces and everyone on it would die! Not only that we should be over Freedom City by now, the city and all its inhabitants will be crushed!"

"Amy this has gone on long enough," said Sally. "As leader of the Freedom Fighters I order you to stand down!"

"We answer to a higher power now," said Lucian. "Lord Specter has foreseen that we would claim the emerald, and no one will die today."

"So, you're not even trying to hide it anymore," sighed Sonic. "Amy, Geoffrey, Hershey, Fiona, Lucian; you have to believe me Ixis is not the benevolent god you think he is. He'll wipe out everything until only he is left."

"Lies from the usurpers," said Geoffrey. "But as the Titan's chosen champion I suppose you turning against them was unlikely."

"Stop this nonsense!" yelled Lara-le. "I can tell two of you are expecting, don't put your children in harm's way!"

"We're wasting time," Fiona moaned as she glared at Sonic and the others with violet eyes. "Hand over the emerald now."

"Please," said Hershey. "Even now your friends and ours are fighting, but hand it over and the fighting will end, ALL fighting will end forever."

Sonic clenched his fist. _"I'm sorry Amy, I can tell neither of us want to fight but we both can't back down. This is going to hurt but there is one last thing I can think of right now to get you to stop before you do something you're gonna regret for the rest of your life. If but if doesn't work, then this will truly be the Freedom Fighter's Darkest Day."_


	19. Falling Angel

Sally activated her ring blades as she and Sonic stood with Knuckles, Chip and Whip between the Five Elite and the Master Emerald, Athair stood between Knuckles' family and the brewing conflict. "Last warning: stand down now. I don't want to hurt you, but I can't let you cause Angel Island to fall from the sky!"

"Don't do it Amy!" said Chip. "You're a good person, you don't want to hurt anybody!"

Amy seemed to hesitate for a moment. "Everything will turn out alright, you just have to believe me."

Sally huffed. "How can we believe you when you're working with the likes of Naugus and Regina Ferrum?!"

Amy gave a small growl but quickly dialed it back. "They might have come over and are still allying with Specter out of greed and a desire for power, but when the Great Illumination comes…"

"Now you're trying to use ends to justify your means?!" said Knuckles. "That's a flimsy excuse for attacking your friends! You said it yourself, the fighting's already started by now."

Hershey made a ball of fire in her hands. "Not quite. Look into the flame and you'll see that whatever walk of life the members of our society came from they see that this is only way to stop the endless conflict that has plagued creation due to the Titans' faulty vision."

Images appeared in the flame showing Sonic and the others different parts of the island.

* * *

Over in Ice Cap Zone Rotor sighed as he looked around the frozen mountains surrounding him. "No offense but I wish Sealia could have been come on this mission. The last few days have been rough, and I'd really like to have what little one on one time we could get away with."

Guntiver shrugged. "Sorry but we got word that Robotnick is going to be sending in some new aquatic bots to attack Iceborough, she and Flip are the best shot we have at keeping them away."

Now it was Erma's time to sigh. "So, did you and Sealia make a decision yet on who's going to be transferring? I mean it must be hard enough to for you two be apart for as much as you are, for a marriage it's going to be harder not to mention once you start having kids. Sealia's my best friend, I only want what makes the two of you happy."

Rotor looked to his feet. "You guys have been her family for so long, just like Sonic, Sally and the others have been mine. You said yourself Flip can handle the aquatic stuff, but Tails can also cover for me in the tech department. Iceborough does feel like home to me, but so does Freedom City, maybe once this is over, we can find time to settle the question once and for all."

"Well whatever you two chose you both have our full support," said Augustus.

"Good for you guys," Ray shivered. "I just hope once we get Fiona back, Mighty and I can find a way to stay…"

Erma rushed over to the flying squirrel. "LOOK OUT!"

She shoved Ray away just before a pair of bullets hit where he was standing. The team looked up to the ridge the shots came from and saw Nack, Bean, Bark and Nic. All four were now wearing outfits like the Elite but in pure black. Nic and Nack were sighting gun barrels.

"Dang!" Nack yelled. "Missed!"

"Don't worry about it," said Bean as he materialized a bomb out of nowhere. "Our new magic gives us endless ammo to play with!"

The artic team took fighting stances. "Shouldn't you guys be in jail?" asked Rotor.

"Fiona was kind enough to visit me a few days back," said Nicolette. "She told me the good news of Ixis and after forming an unofficial club with other prisoners Lord Specter let us out early for good behavior."

"Somehow I don't think a judge is going to see it that way!" said Ray.

"I won't miss this time," said Nack.

"Remember the Heralds' orders," Nic chided. "Only hurt them as a last resort, the Black Emerald's our goal."

Nack then got strangely calm. "You're right sis, the way we reconnected will soon spread through the world." He then turned to the polar bear next to him. "Bark, trip them up."

Bark slammed the ground with his fists causing a small tremor. Despite the shaking Augustus kept his balance and began grappling with his fellow Polar Bear. "Why don't you come with me and we'll talk it one ice bear to another? It'll turn out better for you."

"Sorry," said Bean as threw his bomb causing the two to disengage to avoid the blast. "But Bark's not the talking type."

* * *

Over at Mushroom Hill Rob O' the Hedge was watching the fungal forest with Antione, Robin, Lop and Saffron. "I never thought my cousin would ever pose a danger to Mercia, even though we haven't seen each other much the Amy I knew would die before turning against the Freedom Fighters."

"Worry not my liege," said Bow Sparrow. "We'll get her back safe and sound."

Saffron flew over. "If Amy's your cousin then she would have been in line for throne at one time, right?"

Rob chuckled. "It was part of the reason we allowed her to leave, in case anything happened to me, but like her mother she never shown any interest in ruling."

"Sounds like there's a story there," said Lop the Thorn.

"My dear Aunt Elanor, father's little sister, her interest in being a princess stopped at going to balls and having a handsome knight sweep her off her feet. Well her dream did come true when she married Sir Reginald Rose. He was actually a boyhood friend of your father Antione."

The Coyote turned. "I actually cannot zee my father as ever having been a boy."

"Armand and Reginald both squired under Sir Blackthorn, said to be greatest knight in all of Mercian history, both fierce rivals and fast friends. Reginald actually saved Armand's life one time," Rob looked down despondent. "To think Robotnick forced your father to repay Sir Rose's kindness with murder."

Antione sighed. "My father was… strict with me, called me a coward for wanting to be chef more zhen a knight and I believed it for so long. We reconciled and zhen, my evil counterpart from Moebius murdered him. Since he no longer can on his behalf, I apologize for zhe suffering my father has brought on your family."

Rob shook his head. "There is nothing to forgive, in fact I think you'd do your family proud if you would accept a Mercian Knighthood, you've more than earned it."

Antoine sighed. "I could never do zhat to zhe princess, she…"

Suddenly Lop pointed a spear past the Rob and Antione towards some bushes. "Halt, who goes there?!"

Two young foxes, male and female, in Ixis garb came out from behind one of the giant shrooms nearby. Each drew out a sword. "We have no quarrel with you my king," the said the male. "If you have the black gemstone had it to us and we'll be on our way."

Rob readied his bow and arrow. "Errol and Morain Blackthorn, you fought beside me against the Sheriff and Mordred Hood many a time."

"Which is why you had best turn over the gem," said Morain. "We do not wish to raise our swords against our king, but we must have the stone to ensure eternal peace for the realm."

"Blackthorn?" asked Saffron. "Isn't that the same name as the knight who trained Amy and Antione's dads?"

"They are his grandchildren," said Bow Sparrow as he drew from his quiver. "And quite easily the best swordsmen alive in Mercia."

"Actually, once Lady Rose shown us the truth Lord Specter expanded our repertoire," Errol said as his sword was covered in ice.

"We ask again your majesty," Morain's blade ignited in fire. "Stand aside so we may save the Kingdom."

Antoine drew his own sword and Saffron pulled out one of her doll shaped grenades from her jacket.

"In that case," the two foxes charged with their enchanted swords. "HAVE AT THEE!"

* * *

As the winds howled through Sky Canyon Matilda came over to Bunnie as she was keeping watch. "So, how's The Baron been lately? It's been awhile since I last talked to him."

Bunnie smiled. "Uncle Beau and Aunt Lulu have been doin' fine, they've both settled into livin' in Freedom City and the council and hospital keep 'em plenty busy." Bunnie then looked away. "So busy they asked me to do something I'm not sure I'm ready for."

"What do you mean?"

"They were finally able to get a hold of Ma and Pa's will. My parents left me Rabbot Manor, the family's ancestral home, my birthplace. It survived all these years after so much war, but I haven't been there since I was knee high to a Chao, can't remember the place at all. Uncle Beau wants me to check it out, see what repairs need to be made and see if I can't find someone to fix it up."

"And you don't want to go?"

"I can't leave when Sally Girl needs me the most. Besides, I already made my peace with who my parents were, I don't need to see where they plotted to stab the Kingdom of Acorn in the back."

"At least you admitted to yourself that your parents weren't saints, my brother only got past that hurdle recently."

"If I had done it when I was a kid, I wouldn't have run away and gotten myself half roboticized."

"And probably would been fully roboticized along with your aunt and uncle. Now don't tell Mighty but when I was little I thought there was some mistake, that Mom and Dad would come and get me from that orphanage, it was only when the Swatbots took me away that I realized they were never coming."

"So that's that, Uncle Beau can get someone else to look at the place."

"Don't be so hasty, I mean from what the Baron told me it's not just a house. He and your father grew up there so did their father and his father and a whole lot of brothers and sisters. It was where The Baron and your parents got married, it's where your family cemetery is, that house holds a lot of family history, don't you want to know about it?"

"Uncle Beau did say that our family's history goes back to the beginning of the Southern Baronies. Maybe I can get Sally to give me some time off, I'll have to talk about it with 'Twan…"

"Hey stop gabbin' over there!" Walt yelled. "Stu says we got company coming and not the friendly kind!"

The two girls ran over to the Downunda Freedom Fighters as Breezie came up with a tall looking dog, both in Ixis garb.

"Sleuth Dog," Bunnie growled. "Is it Mogul and Breezie who's writing your checks now, or is Specter paying you himself?"

"Actually I was comfortably retried until I had to blow all my savings to get a hiding place after my brain box shutdown when Eggman bit it and they were arresting guys like me left and right," said Sleuth. "Then out of nowhere Geoffrey St. John with was willing to pay me just to listen to a lecture. It was there I was shown the full power of Ixis."

"I came in to become richer myself," said Breezie. "But now everything pales in comparison to his might. You can know it too, just give us the Black Emerald."

"Not happening you crazy Shelia," said Wombat Stu. "You both clearly gone round the twist."

"And you're going to regret saying that," Sleuth then thrust his arm out as a stream of fire came from his hand.

Matilda leapt in front of Stu having her shell take the brunt of the flames.

"You ok?" asked Barby.

"A bit toasty but like all Armadillos my shell's pretty resilient."

"Then let's try something different," Breezie sent a strong gust that sent Matilda and Stu flying just far enough to start to fall as they came to the edge of a cliff. Just as they went over though Stu grabbed both Matilda and a small tree hidden just under an overhang.

"Noticed this when I scouted the area earlier, just some of the tricks I learned with my stint in the intelligence service."

As they climbed up Matilda felt strangely warm as she noticed Stu was blushing. Her brother's words earlier about finding someone she would obsess with rang in her head for a second before the shook them out. After they came up Matilda warmed up her Pile drivers, Bunnie charged her arms, and Barby's barbs extended.

Sleuth smirked at the group. "Well this looks like it's going to be fun."

* * *

Down in Hydrocity Zone Big was quietly fishing when Echo popped her head out of the water. "I've checked for foes in the sunken areas, there aren't any fish down here."

Big put a finger to his lips. "Shhhh, the bad guys don't know that."

"Why would…never mind. Let's just keep focused on our task."

Vector was looking at a picture of two female cats, one brown and one yellow, smiling into the camera. He then showed it to Razor with a sigh. "The one on the right is my girlfriend Honey, the other one is her best friend Tiara. Honey and I were supposed to join Tiara for a double date before this happened, she was so crushed that I had to cancel. I have to make it up to her somehow."

"I actually understand that," Razor took out a photo of two Meropian girls, one an orange betta in a green dress and a grey manta ray child in an orange dress. "That's Coral and the little one's Pearly, I was actually a pirate and a thug until Coral set me on the straight and narrow. I promised them I'd come back safe and sound a promise I intend to keep."

Marine came up from around a corner. "Sorry I was so long mates; you wouldn't believe how long it takes you find a proper place to use the dunny down here."

Echo leapt out of the water. "Password."

"Aw come on Echo," said Bivalve. "That password's kind of silly and I'm having a hard time remembering it."

"It's alright," said Marine. "I remember. In depths of the great big blue, honor and justice will pull through. Truth and valor the currents adore and will guide our path forevermore."

"That's it," said Vector. "Now that's out of the way…"

Echo suddenly thrust her spear at Marine who just barely dodged. "Crikey have you lost your marbles?!"

"What are you doing Echo?!" said Razor. "She got that whole poem exactly right."

Just then another Marine came around the same corner. "I had to go all the way up to the surface to…" the new marine stared at the first in shock.

"That's a neat trick Marine," said Big. "How'd you do it?"

"She didn't," said Echo. "I knew none of you could remember that password and give it without missing a beat, I gave it to you for a particular guy who might have been listening in. Rumor had it a surface dweller had found his way to Meropis and had been seen with an extremely dangerous criminal, my boss Captain Striker ordered me to join you in order to catch him. Isn't that right Mimic?"

The first Marine closed her eyes as she chuckled. "Who'd have thought that shrimp would send you all the way here just for me…"

She opened her eyes which were now white with black sclera before changing into a male grey Merpoian octopus. "I'm actually quite flattered!"

"Everyone, keep your eyes on him!" Echo yelled. "He can take on the appearance of anybody and he'll use that to try to get us to attack each other!"

"Ye might find that a wee bit difficult," came a voice from a nearby archway. "Considering ye will soon have yer hands full."

Suddenly Five Mobians, three of them Meropian, jumped down the archway. A yeti crab, a yellow jellyfish, a red shark girl, a purple lemming and a light blue otter with an eye patch were now pointing swords at the Freedom Fighters.

Razor growled. "Dive the Lemming, Opal the Jellyfish, Mr. Bristles, Captain Shellbreaker and my big sister Blade. They're from the Setting Dawn, my old pirate crew."

"Never thought to see you on a flying island little brother," said the Blade. "But had over the gem and your little mutiny will be forgiven."

Crusher growled as Razor drew a sword of his own. "Sorry Blade, but the pirate's life just ain't for me anymore."

Echo moved her spear to point at the otter. "You really sunk to new low Shellbreaker to let Mimic onto your crew.

"Well after Razor abandoned ship and Abyss the Squid took most of me crew to join the Dark Egg Legion, we be a bit shorthanded. But this Tenrec fellow signed us up with the Order o' Ixis so we sail for a higher cause now. So, give us yer booty and none o' ye will walk the plank."

Marine took a fighting stance. "Please, Blaze and I beat up so many pirates we lost count."

Vector picked up Bivalve and readied to throw him. "How about you surrender first and maybe you'll just go to jail without any bruises?"

"Orders captain?" asked the yeti crab.

Shell breaker smirked. "We'll give them a good thrashing Mr. Bristles, then we take their treasure!"

"AYE AYE!" the pirates sounded back.

* * *

Over in Sandopolis Cream, Gold, Mighty and the Desert Raiders were setting up camp when they saw three hooded figures approach them. "You stop right there Ixis creeps!" shouted Spike. "You better turn yourselves in now if you know what's good for you!"

The figure in the lead reached for their hood. "Is that any way to speak to…" the hood came down exposing a white feathered vulture with a gold mask legionized to her face. "…your mother?"

Sonar gasped. "Nephthys!? Why are you with the Order of Ixis!? I thought once you got free from Eggman you were done with fighting!"

"It's to keep you safe my children, once we have the Black Emerald an eternal peace will come to the world and then you'll be safe from harm forever."

"Eternal peace?" asked Cream.

"No one will want to hurt each other anymore. I can tell you are a gentle soul, just give us what we need, and all the fighting will stop. Isn't that what you really want, for no one to be hurt?"

"Don't buy it Cream!" said Mighty. "She's just trying to get into our heads!"

"That's not true," Derrick Fox said as he pulled his hood down. "Once the final essence in the hands of Lord Specter the Great Illumination will begin then greed and hatred will vanish from the hearts of the children of Ixis."

Natalia pulled her hood down. "Fiona told us everything, there is nothik to be afraid of. Our malyshka (baby girl) misses you so much Mighty and we know you miss her. What say we stop this nonsense and then we can take you our daughter?"

"_Everyone, stay focused!"_ Gold said through telepathy. _"If you're going to save them the best way is to force them to see Specter's lies for what they are!"_

Cream lightly clenched her fists. "I don't want to anyone to get hurt, but what Specter is doing is hurting the creatures he's kidnapped! A peace that is brought through the suffering of others is no peace at all! That's why I'll never forgive him for what he's done!" Cheese nodded in agreement.

Spike stepped closer to the former Egg Boss. "You raised us, we can never possibly repay you, but we're not little kids anymore at some point we have to leave the nest."

"We gave up on hope too easily before," said Sonar. "Well not anymore, it's time we lived up to name Freedom Fighter."

"I'm blind but even I can see that Specter getting that emerald would be a disaster," said Treavor.

"I will see Fiona again," said Mighty. "Once I snap her out of whatever spell you're all under, even if I have to beat it out of you!"

Nephthys gave a stern look. "Children this naughty need to be disciplined."

* * *

High up in Sky Sanctuary Tails, Charmy and the Babylon Rouges found themselves face to face with several birds in Ixis garb, including a familiar green one.

"It's been awhile hasn't it Tails?" said Speedy. "You're certainly taller than the last time we met."

"And you got rid of that stupid egg harness, but the warden isn't going to be happy you're out of your cage."

"Think of this as a field trip for those prisoners who seen the light. I am a changed bird, once Bean talked me into listening to truth of Ixis I see that species doesn't matter, the armada may be gone but we're all children of Ixis. You saved my life once Tails so I'm going to return the favor by doing my part to begin the Great Illumination, I just need the Black Emerald to do it."

"No dice you little twirp," said Jet. "Not only are you not getting the emerald but we're going to make you squawk everything you know about where your Ixis buddies hid everything they stole from the Babylonians!"

"Some gratitude to the people who gave you your wings."

"Angelus gave us our wings!" yelled Corva. "The Order lied to you and they stole Angelus, you all have to wake up!"

"We're wide awake, but if you think you can beat this flock then you're the ones who are dreaming."

Charmy moved his stinger into a thrusting position. "In that case, bring it on!"

* * *

Over at Lava Reef Blaze, Liza and the Dragon Kingdom fighters were approached by an elderly lion and a little Vixen. Ken Khan drew his staff. "Li Yuen, Li Moon? Specter got his claws into you guys?!"

"Listen to me," said Dulcy. "Whatever Specter has planned it will be disastrous for the Free People."

"I wasn't sure myself Empress," said Li Yuen. "But once Li Moon explained it to me everything became clear, whether it was under the rule of the Dragons or the Four Clans conflict has been the one constant of our land. The Free People will only be safe once conflict has been rooted out of the Mobian heart itself."

"Why Li Moon?" Cinder said teary eyed. "We were friends!"

"And we still are," said Li Moon. "But the nice kitty says everyone will be friends once we have the Black Emerald. You just have to give the Black Emerald to us, then everything will be better."

"This is your last warning," said Blaze. "Surrender before you do something you're going to regret, then tell me where the Order is keeping Iblis."

"I see we are at an impasse," said Li Yuen. "Combat it is then." The two then took martial arts stances.

Liza pulled out a shuriken. "Since I became a member of the Shinobi clan, I took an oath to fulfill the Clan's responsibilities. Then when the Empress took the throne one of those responsibilities became to protect the Free People from all threats. Right now, the Order of Ixis are making the Free People a threat to themselves. I will try not to do you permanent harm, but I will bring you back on the true path."

* * *

Over in Marble Garden Espio and Silver stood back as the Malada Freedom Fighters were in utter shock at the four girls who just appeared. A yellow vixen, an aqua colored beetle with a shiny white shell and two purple bandicoots who seemed to be identical twins.

"Jewel?" Tangle asked the Beetle. "What are you doing here?"

Jewel smiled. "I heard that a rare black gem was on this island and since I'm a minerals expert our new friends asked if we could come from Malada to find it for them."

"You're a member of the Order of Ixis?" said Whisper. "You too Zooey? But you were always so gentle and sweet."

"And that's why we want to find the emerald," said the Vixen. "So everywhere can be as peaceful as our island home."

"No, it's a trick!" yelled Sticks. "It's got to be illusions or pod people or something!"

"Get you head out of the clouds Sticks!" said one of the Bandicoots. "Are you like, giving us the gem or not?!"

"Take it easy on them Staci," said the other twin. "Remember what Lucian said about them just not getting the Great Illumination yet?"

Staci smiled at her twin. "Thanks, Perci. You're always there to keep me from hurting people's feelings."

Perci smiled back. "And you always help me keep my cool Staci."

"This is nuts!" said Tangle. "We're all friends here, we grew up together, now were supposed to fight?!"

"Tangle, stay focused," said Espio. "Remember our mission. We need to find where the Ixis hideout is, to do that we'll have to bring your friends back to their senses."

The lemur nodded to the ninja. "Thanks," she then turned to wizards. "Sorry guys but it's time for some tough love!"

Silver began to glow. "Let's hurry this up so I can save my future!"

* * *

As the images played Amy turned back to Sonic, Sally and Knuckles. "You can end this now, just let us have the Master Emerald. Trust me."

Sally "How can we trust you when you're not only working with known villains but taking people with no combat experience and pitting them against veterans?!"

Amy clenched her fist but then eased it. "They actually have a much better chance than you realize." Amy turned to Hershey. "Show them."

* * *

The image in the flame then shifted to a large concert stage set up in the middle of a park in Echidnaopolis.

Nicole, Shard and Julie-su stood among several Echidna and Dingo before the stage. Lien-da stood near the edge with several security team members spaced around them. "Crowd seems clear," Julie said as her quill metallic and pointing upward in "Antenna mode".

"Parameter's secure," said Lien-da over the radio. "Any wizards come this why they'll get an electowhip lash for their trouble."

"Not even going to try to enjoy the city's first rock concert, are you?"

"You really should," Nicole to the receiver.

"I'm good. Not that I mean I really am one of the good guys now, which I assure you I am, but I meant I'm not interested."

"Still give it a try, Mina's singing has a way of talking to people's hearts."

Shard crossed his arms. "Yeah, and that way of speaking with people turned the people of New Mobotropolis against you."

Nicole shook her head at the former robot. "She apologized to me for her unwitting part in Naugus' plot long ago, I mean what I did as Iron Nicole terrified her, but it is water under the bridge now. Actually, I was able got us into this concert was because I'm making good on a free ticket voucher she gave me as an apology. Despite what happened to me I've always loved her music."

Shard smiled back. "Ok, forgive and forget."

Julie tapped her antenna quill again. "Shade, what's your position?"

"Argo and I are a short distance from backstage," the former procurator said. "All other patrols have checked in with no activity so far."

"Copy that check in again in fifteen minutes." After Julie finished her quill dropped to its usual place before taking an organic look.

Up on-stage Mina Mongoose came up to microphone as the audience cheered. "Hello Echidnaopolis! Welcome back to Mobius and thank you for having us come to play for you!"

More cheers from the crowd.

"Now before we begin, I'd like to introduce myself and the rest of the Forget Me Knots. I'm Mina the lead singer but you probably already heard of me so let's move on. On guitar we have Max!"

A red monkey came out and waved to the crowd before plugging his guitar into a speaker.

"On bass is Sharps!"

A chicken wearing shades waved as he set his guitar up.

"Next is our drummer Mach!

Pink rabbit pointed his drumsticks at the cheering crowd before taking his seat at the drum set.

"And finally, he's been with our band for a while but has only joined us on stage recently. Ash on Keytar!"

The mongoose took a bow as he plugged his instrument in.

"We're so glad you gave us such a warm welcome and as a surprise for our opening number we're going to play our newest single for the first time publicly anywhere!"

The entire crowd erupted in cheers.

"The promotional material never said anything about a new song," said Nicole. "They're really pulling out all the stops.

Mach began to bang his sticks together. "One, two, one, two, three, four!"

The band began to paly deep rhythmic melody, the audience felt something deeply primal about as people began dancing in the crowd. Mina then took the mic.

I'm changing over

Into another

face to confuse you

* * *

I'm gonna trick you

Tease and taunt you

You might understand real soon

Back in the chamber the song came not only from the flame but the communication devices they had on them. Sonic suddenly felt his emotions shifting wildly never settling in one place for more than a second, the only constant was a pervasive sense of vertigo as he couldn't keep his feet steady. Looking around everyone who wasn't an Ixis Wizard seemed to be suffering the same effect.

Confusion, confusion, confusion, confusion

Confusion, confusion, confusion, confusion

Confusion!

The image in Hershey's flame shifted to show the Freedom Fighters and their allies also becoming disoriented. Amy and Lucian approached the Master Emerald and held their hands before it, streams of blue energy came from it and into them.

My world is full of

Chaos and clutter

Your own thoughts will deceive you

Soon the beam stopped as Lucian turned to the other three.

"We tapped into the essence, all that is left is to bring it back to the temple so we can use the Chaos Emeralds to further empower it."

Fiona and Geoffrey approached them as the flame turned back to the concert.

* * *

My mind is crazy

Messed up and hazy

You'll never know what I'll do

Backstage Shade knelt to the ground. She turned to Argo, an orange Echidna with a skull bandana and an eye patch, then pointed at the generator set up to power the lighting and instruments.

Argo nodded back as their armor made their helmets appear over their heads. The right forearm of Argo's armor became a blaster just before he aimed it at the generator.

Confusion, confusion, confusion, confusion…

Argo fired and the energy bolt began to short-out the generator.

"Confusion, confuse… what?!" Mina looked around as most of the band was effectively silenced.

"What happened to my ax?!" asked Max the Monkey.

Shade and Argo came on stage. "Sorry but we had to pull the plug on this show. With what was happening I hate to break it you all, but your star is a member of the Order of Ixis."

"She was messing us up again?!" yelled Shard.

Nicole looked up to Mina on stage. "But Mammoth Mogul manipulated Mina with mind control against Sonic, Naugus used her to manipulate the City, why would she be an Ixis Witch?"

Mina sighed. "It was supposed to just disorient you long enough for us to retrieve the Essence of Water, Amy said this way no one would have been seriously hurt." With a gesture Mina's clothes were replaced by black Ixis garb."

"No, Mina…"

Ash and the rest of the Forget Me Knots then laid their instruments aside. "But you had to go and make things difficult." With a gesture the Forget Me Knots all donned Ixis garb.

"It was the whole band?!" said Argo.

Just then Julie got a message from her radio. "The city is under attack! We have multiple Mobian and Overlander hostiles!"

Julie-su pulled out her gun as she and Shard leapt up on stage. "Turn yourselves in now, before you get yourselves hurt."

The Forget Me Knots conjured mystical looking versions of their instruments into their hands. "Sorry," Mina said as she brought the microphone to her mouth. "But our next number is going to be the funeral dirge for war and suffering in this world!"

* * *

When the music stopped in the Hidden Palace's emerald chamber Knuckles swung at the approaching wizards as Lucian and Geoffrey each took a blow to the chin.

"Looks like your little plan to zonk everyone out while you took the Master Emerald failed," said the Guardian. "Angel Island won't fall on Freedom City or anywhere else now!"

With a stern look Amy made a few gestures and soon a fiery biter, a stone nightmare, a bird headed cyclone and a creature that looked like cross between a brainless Chaos Zero and a shark stood before between her and the Freedom Fighters. "I also made elementals like these appear to aid those who follow the will of Ixis. The water elementals are not as strong since the Essence of Water has not been linked with Chaos Emeralds but under our control all these creatures will simply reform when destroyed. The Freedom Fighters can't win against a foe that will never tire and simply reform over and over. I don't want to use them to hurt you all but unless you give us the Emerald I will!"

Whip but her hands on her hips. "You have a lot of gall cell, using such pale imitations of my power. Return my essence to me and I might be merciful and let you live out the remainder of your life!"

"I'll do it!" yelled Amy. "Don't force my hand!"

Suddenly Sonic laughed. "Force your hand!? Alright faker where did you hide the REAL Amy?!"

"I'm standing right in front of you! No tricks, no illusions!"

"Could have fooled me. The Amy Rose I know wouldn't make threats or hold herself back, she'd just clobber whoever was making her mad with her hammer!"

"Sonic what are you doing?!" asked Sally. "Getting her angry is not going to be helpful!"

"Just the opposite Sal, it's what's going to get her back to us! Call it a hunch but I think there's been something she's been keeping to herself for a while, something she didn't want to admit because she thinks we'd treat her like a kid again or something if she actually complained about it."

"Don't listen to him!" yelled Lucian. "He's trying to deter us from our destiny!"

"Come on Amy, what's eating you? Is it that I picked Sally over you? Is it that you feel like you wasted years pining after me? Or is it that no matter how much you act grown up no one's is going to see you as anything more than a crazed pink fangirl?"

Chip flew next to Sonic's head. "I think you might be taking it a little too far."

Amy kept growling, the elementals following her lead. Suddenly with a motion about a dozen Piko Piko hammers appeared in the air and dropped almost whacking the Freedom Fighters before disappearing.

"YOU NEVER ACCEPTED ME!"

For a moment, the chamber was silent except for Amy's sobs.

"None of you did. You made me a Freedom Fighter, but it never felt like you thought of me as one of you. When Sonic was locked up after that plan to get him roboticized but keep his will backfired I was the only one who thought that when he got back to normal that we could trust him again, but even after that it wasn't enough. When Sonic and Sally made up and started going out again, I stood aside and let you be together, so you'd be happy, that wasn't enough either. When he took me out on a date while we were trying to get Sally back it was fun but I could tell he really wanted you, he also wanted Antoine, Rotor, Nicole and Bunnie to be ok again, but unlike Tails it didn't feel like I was a part of his worries. It was like no matter how hard I fought or how helpful I could be I just didn't belong."

Sally turned off her Ring Blades. "Of course, you belonged Amy. Everyone in Knothole knew that you were someone they could count on."

"I'm not talking about being depended on! You, Sonic, Tails, Bunnie, Nicole, Rotor, Antione; you were all so close to each other and it seemed so wonderful I wanted a part of that, but while I was an ally and a friend I just didn't fit into what you had. And it wasn't just me, Dulcy, Mina, Tommy, Fiona, Big, Cream, we could be part of the team but we weren't part of your inner circle of friends and no matter how close I let myself be to all of you I never could be!"

Sonic started to get closer. "Amy…" The growls of the elementals stopped him in his tracks. "Amy, we, the seven of us had been through a lot together, for some even before Robotnick's coup. All the battles the celebrations, the hardships, the setbacks, they brought us even closer together, so close I guess we never realized it could seem like we shut out the rest of the world. It was like when I dated Fiona to get Tails over her, I didn't think, I just did."

Knuckles looked at Amy sternly. "So, you weren't a part of the in crowd and THAT'S why you joined the Order of Ixis?!"

"No," said Amy. "It was because I didn't feel like I really belonged that I never told you the reason why I did. Yes, we lied about the light in the forest, Specter found us as Mobini, changed us back then told us about the ritual to get your minds back so you could fix everything. But as we performed the ritual, we learned a truth that changed everything. I wanted to tell you all so badly, but the way you rejected our story so easily I knew that you wouldn't even listen to this truth, but I also knew that if we were Tails or Bunnie or any of the rest you would at least hear us out. But that's something I can never convince you to do and it breaks my heart."

Amy continued sobbing as Lucian embraced her.

Sally came as close as the Elementals allowed. "Ok, tell us."

"No!" yelled Athair. "For all you know she could be trying to put you under a spell! Ixis cannot be trusted!"

Sally shook her head. "But I'm not trusting Ixis, I'm trusting Amy. I once heard the first step to changing someone's mind is being willing to have your own mind changed. So, I'll give you one chance, tell us this truth and we'll determine for ourselves if any of what you've done is justified based on that. I'm not saying you'll succeed, with everything that's happened the bar is astronomically high, but you're enough of a friend that I'll give you that chance, even if I never made you feel like you were."

"Same goes for me Amy," said Sonic. "Go ahead and give it your best shot."

Knuckles grumbled. "My gut's telling me this is crazy, but if I gave Espio a chance after we found out he spying on us for the Bride of Eternal Vigil than I'll let Sally and Sonic give you the same chance."

Athair growled. "If you feel like you must do this go ahead, but I'm taking precautions in case this is a trap to keep Lara-le, Wynmacher and Knecapeon safe.

The former guardian formed a soundproof bubble out of chaos energy. Amy wiped the tears from her eyes. "Thank you, thank you for listening."

Fiona growled as she looked on with violet eyes. _"This is not good,"_ Agunus thought to himself. _"Once Sonic and Knuckles hear what she has to say they'll serve Specter and the chances of our taking over the Order will be practically zero! I'm not sure I can wrest control of the earth elemental away to shut her up, but even if I can it would be three on one and I'll be exposed! There's nothing I can do!"_

Amy took a deep breath. "Ok the truth is that…Ohh!" Amy recovered from her gasp and tried to speak again. "The truth is…UGH!"

"AMY!"

As the Freedom Fighters started to get close the elementals blocked their path but stayed close to the pink Hedgehog.

"Amy are you all right?!" Lucian said as his voice tinged with worry.

Amy looked back at him, the joy that chased away sorrow turned to anxiety. "I think I just had a contraction."

Sally gasped. "She's having her baby now?!"

"OHHHH!" Hershey's flame disappeared as she began clutching her stomach.

"Hershey!" Geoffrey shouted as he cradled his wife. "Looks like Amy isn't the only one! Fiona!"

Inwardly Agunus sighed. _"Lucky break for me but I don't want to deal with this labor stuff, better let The Shale handle it!"_

Fiona closed her eyes as if she had a sudden headache, she opened them again and they appeared blue. "Wait, what?"

"OHHH!" Amy was now bent over and gasping for breath. "Now I'm sure it's a contraction, my water just broke!"

Fiona came close and looked around. "Of all rotten timing for a blackout! Ok just lie down for now, can someone get me a light I need to see if she is dilating?!"

Athair removed the bubble as Lara passed Kneecaps to her husband. "Let me help! I laid two eggs; I know it's not exactly the same but I can still…"

The Iblis biter roared in Lara's face. Knuckles punched it apart only for the flames to reform. "Amy call these things off! Otherwise we can't help you!"

"Do it!" Hershey gritted through another contraction. "Mission or not these babies are coming!"

Amy lifted her hand only to find someone had grabbed it after hearing someone teleport into the room. She looked up and found an unexpected face looking back. "Lord Specter?"

The archmage moved his free hand behind him and opened it. "Zone Gate." A portal appeared behind him. "Take them back to the Temple of Ixis, I will handle things from here."

"But the elementals that are already here, the other wizards…OHHH!"

"Concentrate on giving birth, the elementals and my followers will be taken care of."

"Yes, my Lord," said Fiona. "Come on, it's not that far of a walk."

As Lucian and Hershey propped up with wives Sonic growled at Specter. "So, you finally decided to show your face Masquerade, sort of."

"We were willing to hear Amy out," said Sally. "You on the other hand we don't trust at all."

"The Grand Design had deemed you were not ready for that knowledge, not yet." The portal closed behind him after the Elite stepped through. "Now to business. Elementals, I command you now."

The Elementals roared.

"Those not within this place, attack the mortals amongst you, ALL of them."

"You're sicing them on your own followers?!" gasped Lara-le. "What kind of man are you?!"

"The power and threat the elementals pose needed to be made clear to the world at large. But these four have a different purpose." He turned to the elementals. "Retrieve the Master Emerald."

The four charged to the gem Athair joined the fray as each was cut down the composing element simply reformed after Sonic and the others passed. The Elementals then lifted the Master Emerald off the dais and began to carry it to Specter.

Whip flew straight at the villain. "Give me back my essence!"

"Better yet come and get it." Specter took Gaia's ring from his robes, the orb on it pulsed darkly as a black energy shot from it to Whip and Chip.

"Sonic!" yelled Chip. "Help!"

Soon the two sprites were pulled into the ring. Specter looked at it with a pride visible through his mask.

"Yes, soon the Elemental War will begin and what a way for it start! An island falling from the sky threatening to shatter itself on the city below!"

"You monster!" Lara yelled. "How can you be so callous about all those innocent lives!?"

"Your moralizing…" Specter raised his hand. "…annoys me." A dart of black energy shot from his palm. Time seemed to slow down for Knuckles as the dart hit Lara-le squarely in the chest.

"MOTHER!"

"LARA! Wynmacher yelled.

Kneecaps started bawling as his mother fell on her back clutching her chest.

Athair rushed over to Lara, picked her up, took out a warp ring and opened it to an emergency room. "We still might be able to save her! Wynmacher bring the child, Knuckles I need you to focus and keep the Master Emerald out of his hands!"

Specter laughed and raised up his hand as Lara was helped through the warp ring. "Why don't you call upon your goddess of life to heal you? Perhaps she can't now she's been reduced to a mere infant; you may want to turn to her archfoe instead. Oh wait, he's right next to her in the exact same state! Know how feeble your so-called gods are next to Ixis and let me drink in your sweet despair!"

As the warp ring closed Knuckles growled. "Shut up, shut up, shut up…"

He ran through the air elemental in his way and punched Specter right in the face. "SHUT UP!"

As specter fell to the floor the elementals vanished as sound of metal clanging against stone could be heard. Suddenly Tails, Bunnie, Antione, Rotor, Nicole, Cream, Silver, Gold, Blaze and Marine fell from portals that Sonic and the others only now noticed had opened in the ceiling.

"What are we doing here?" asked Tails.

"Wait," said Gold. "If we're all here why isn't Big?"

Sonic turned to the new arrivals. "I don't why you're here, but you missed a lot. The black emerald got broken, Chaos is now in the Master Emerald, Chip and Whip are trapped in his ring, Amy and Hershey went into labor then Specter…"

"Wait," Sally said as she pointed at a metal mask lying on the floor. "Specter's mask."

"Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh, heh, heh, heh, heh, heh…"

Specter's back was turned as he got back on his feet and levitated his mask back into hand. Suddenly he turned around.

"HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA!"

Specter's face was clearly seen by everyone in the room. But it wasn't the expression was not the sneer of a confident and smug overlord, nor was it the gentle smile of a penitent and kind teacher. It was the laughing visage of a raving lunatic.

"Charlemagne?!" shouted Sally. "It was you?! You're Specter?!"

Sonic clenched his fist. "I should have known! I had a bad feeling in my gut about you since day one! But you tricked me into ignoring it!"

Specter gave the Freedom Fighters a wicked smirk. "You mortals are so easy to manipulate! It doesn't matter if you're a vessel for my spirit like this decrepit Overlander, one of my servants or an enemy. You're all puppets and I am the grand puppeteer pulling your stings without you even realizing! I was even able to get the princess and your hero cast your loyalty into doubt!"

"Sally Girl what's he talkin' about?" asked Bunnie.

Specter's eyes had a wicked gleam. "Didn't any of you wonder why they separated you today? I left a thread of a plan out in the open, and by following the logic the most reasonable conclusion wasn't that I was able to work quickly with a Split Image spell, no it was far more likely that one of you was working for me. Their whole plan took the shape it did because they thought one of you was a traitor!"

"Non," said Antoine has he and the others felt his stare pierce into their souls. "If zhat was what they thought zhey'd have just asked us outright, wouldn't zhey?"

Sally began to shake. "T-too much was at stake, the fate of the world could have depended on it and you could have been controlled, we had to be sure…"

"No," cried Cream. "This, this can't be happening…"

{So this is it,} Silver said through the Mental link to Blaze, Marine and Gold. {This is the cause of the Freedom Fighter's Darkest Day, but now it's too late to do anything about it!}

"You think you can just manipulate people like pieces on a gameboard," growled Knuckles. "Well your plan backfired! Your elementals are gone, and you now have to face a whole team of Freedom Fighters and a guardian whose mother you tried to kill all alone!"

"Nothing happens that I cannot foresee." Specter returned his mask to his face. "You hit me because I wanted you to, to give the best show for when the Grand Design required my identity to be exposed. I brought them here to because of all the emotions you mortals possess the one I find most enjoyable to witness is despair. And I wanted to drink in as much of it as possible before I claim the final key to the completion of the Grand Design!"

Specter then disappeared before reappearing next to the Master Emerald.

"Oh no you don't! Thunder Arrow!"

A bolt of lightning came from Knuckle's fist as he punched the air. The bolt then stuck a shield that surrounded Specter. "Like I said, you only hit me because I let you." Specter then touched the Master Emerald; it shrank down to the size of a normal chaos emerald.

Knuckles charged. "I don't know how you figured out how to do that but you're going to pay!"

Sonic came at him from the other side spinning. "This ends now Masquerade!"

"Zone Gate!" Specter then threw the master emerald and Chip's ring through an open portal which closed the moment the echidna's and hedgehog's attacks hit him.

Specter fell to the floor as the chamber began shaking, it looked like his body was dissipating. "A good effort, but this was merely the split image copy that was living among you for weeks. You'll find facing the REAL me won't be nearly as simple, that is if you survive that long. Happy Landings, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA!"

The copy then vanished completely. "He's right!" shouted Sally. "Angel Island is going to fall on top of Freedom City! Unless we do something fast, both will be destroyed!"

Blaze fell to her hands and knees. "Keep it together girl, just stay in control of your fear."

"Control…" Sonic snapped his fingers. "I have an idea but no time to explain it, gotta run!"

Sonic ran out the doorway.

"I don't know what he's doing but it has to work!" said Rotor. "We have minutes until everything around us turns into the world's biggest pile of rubble!"

"Tails, Cream, Bunnie get out of here!" said Knuckles. "You can fly so you save yourselves and whoever you can carry!"

Tails shook his head. "We don't know where we are, we'll never make it in time!"

"There has to be something we can do!" said Silver.

Suddenly a bright light passed over them, it remained for a few seconds then it vanished. Sally and the others felt a sensation being shifted somehow and then the shaking stopped after a slight bob in the room.

"What just 'appened?" asked Antione.

Knuckles felt the chamber floor. "We hit water, water deep enough to keep Angel Island intact. As for that light, I think it was Chaos Control."

"On the whole island?" asked Sally. "Sonic has used Chaos Control before but on something this big? The closest example we have is Space Colony Ark, sure it was huge, but he still had to work with Shadow while both were in their super forms to pull it off."

"Whatever he did we're safe for now," Knuckles then used his warp ring to open a way to a hospital. "At the moment I'm only concerned about my Mother."

The Freedom Fighters walked through, on the floor were several people in Ixis garb covered in blankets muttering to themselves.

"Why would the elementals attack us? Was I unworthy somehow?"

"He left us, he left us here to die…"

"Why did I ever think I could trust those guys? Seriously I can remember what I did but not why I did it. It made perfect sense to me but whatever it was is a total blank."

"Knuckles!" Julie-su ran up to the group. "Thank Aurora you're safe."

"I'm happy you're ok too, but what's up with these Ixis Wizards?"

"Former Ixis Wizards and it's craziest thing, first these elemental things appeared then turned on them before starting to wreck the island, then we fell from the sky only to move above an inland sea an hour away from Freedom City. Whatever it was these people were shocked out of whatever hold Specter had on them, we locked up a few but most just surrendered under mental shock. None of them can recall why they joined the Order and their magic seems to be gone. As for where the hideout is looks like the grunts weren't told."

Sally grabbed her head. "It was all for nothing! The plan failed. Specter has the Essence of Water and the Master Emerald; he has everything he needs for his elemental war!"

"It's all right Sally," said Knuckles. "We'll just have to stop the war when it begins. But what about my mom?! Specter tried to kill her; she was brought here!"

Julie looked down sadly. "They've taken her into surgery, Big and Sonic were sent into intensive care."

"Big and Sonic?!" yelled Gold. "How?!"

"The elemental attack caused the jellyfish pirate Big was fighting to accidently overdose him on her venom, Sonic just collapsed in front of Remington after, was that Chaos Control?"

"We'll just have to get our answers once we see how they're doing!" said Tails. "Come on take us to them!"

* * *

Moments later the Freedom Fighters were standing in front of a hospital room, inside Big was laid down on a bed Froggy keeping watch nearby. On the outside Sonic walked up to them on shaky legs.

"Just got up. Guess I overdid it, I had to grab every power ring on the island, but I managed to chaos control it somewhere safe. Still I got really winded."

"You could have used my Sol Emeralds," said Blaze.

"You're still gonna need them to seal Iblis. Don't worry I'll be fine, docs said I'll be ok after a good night's sleep."

"But what about Big?!" asked Knuckles. "And my mother?!"

"The doctors gave me an update," said a white Echidna. While he still had yellow eyes the sclera were now white and his teeth now looked normal.

"Finitivus? What are you doing here?"

"I came as soon as I heard about your mother's injury, they managed to stabilize her for now, but they had to give her a cybernetic replacement for her heart to survive long term."

"What about Big?!" asked Gold. "There were things I was going to tell him, things I should have told him!"

"Your feline friend is quite resilient, his body is fighting off the venom, the doctors will watch for changes, but they expect he'll wake up in a couple of days."

"So, everyone's ok?" asked Cream. "Mrs. Le needed a new heart but other than that nobody was hurt. Right?"

Finitivus sighed. "Knuckles your mother told you about her disease, right?"

"Yes, but I heard you were close to a treatment."

"The machine the treatment uses would shut down a synthetic heart. She needs the surgery to live but we can't perform the treatment if we go ahead with it, the treatment can't be stopped once started and we wouldn't be able to restart the heart in time if we do go through with it. I'd would even recommend roboticization at this point but unfortunately she's immune."

"So, you're telling me even with all your big brained ideas my mother is going to die to this Long Requiem thing?!" Knuckles punched the wall. "But we were so close!"

"I'm sorry. After everything I have done, I'd understand you blaming me for not making up for my misdeeds this way."

"I don't," said Knuckles his eyes red with anger. "I blame Specter, and he's going to pay for what he's done."

Julie-su turned the guardian to face her. "Knuckles I know this is hard for you, but you have to keep it together. Right now, your stepfather and little brother need you, don't worry I'll be right there with you."

"Thanks Julie," Knuckles turned to the Freedom Fighters. "I…have to be with Wyn and Kneecaps. You probably have to get going so I guess this is goodbye for now."

"Goodbye," said Sally. "And thank you."

Knuckles and Julie turned a corner and were out of sight.

"Sally, Sonic!" an echidna in a uniform came up to the group. "Oh, you're all here, they need you at E.S.T. headquarters. Looks like something big happened while the battle was going on here."

"We'll go right away," said Sonic. But as everyone began to move Gold stayed put. "You coming? They'll send Big home once he's worked the venom out."

"I know," said Gold her eyes seemed red with tears. "But I want to say goodbye. I'm going to use my telepathy to tell him and to tell him some things I should have told him a long time ago, private things."

"I understand," said Silver. "We'll meet you back on the Sky Patrol."

About a half hour later they had gathered back in the auditorium a display shown a map of Mobius where a considerable amount of territory was colored in red. As they came in Sally and Sonic were met with several angry stares. Sonic tried to read the room. "So…what happened?"

Ken Khan and Barby stomped over angrily. Ken snarled at Sonic. "What happened was that while we were up here playing decoy with the Order of Ixis' brainwashed civilians and criminals, Robotnick used our absence to launch several surprise attacks on our homes!"

"Viktor really played my friends," said Shard. "He fed Harvey and the others fake intel to hide he was really going after Mobian territories with diminished defenses."

"Even the tidbit we got about his attack on Icebrough was false," said Erma. "They came from the ice above, not the sea below."

Tails looked at the map, amazed at the Ascendancy's progress. "How did he know?"

"Does it matter?!" yelled Barby. "Our friends were forced to retreat, our homes have been taken over, our people are refugees, all so we could catch some guys who turned out never knew where the Order is headquartered!"

"Not all of them!" said Sally. "Their leaders were here, Specter himself showed up!"

"You got him, right?" asked Tangle. "That means the Order is finished, isn't it?"

Sally sighed. "They…got away…along with the Essence of Water."

"So, we did all of this for nothing?!" asked Wave. "We had one shot to get back Angelus and we blew it?!"

"It's my fault, I set this whole thing up as a mole hunt, only it turned out there was no mole."

"Hey, I resent that remark!" said Trevor.

"We all got fooled," said Sonic. "Specter was hiding under our noses the whole time."

"And you couldn't sniff him out," said Razor. "We never should have left the ocean."

"I hate to say it but given the current situation the Desert Raiders can't offer you any more aid," said Spike as he, Sonar and Trevor began to leave. "Not until we can liberate our homes again."

"I'm afraid that goes for the rest for the rest of us," said Walt as his group began leaving. "We have to look after own before we're in a good enough position to even think of providing aid to another division."

Echo picked up a tank with Bivalve in it. "As part of the agreement Ray had to make, the Forty Fathom Fighters now answer directly to King Puff and Queen Angelica of Meropis," said the clam. "They ordered us to find a place to settle the Meropian refugees and that until further notice no more working with or going to the surface. I'm sorry."

"You don't have a plan anymore," said Jet. "Our little partnership is over; we'll find our own way to locate these Ixis goons."

"We're really sorry guys," said Sticks. "But we have to take our friends back to Malada Island or wherever the people of Malada are now that we lost the island."

"I'm sorry too," said Dulcy. "But as empress my first duty has to be to the Dragon Kingdom and its people, I may be new to this ruling thing Sally, but I know in my place you'd do the same thing."

"We got to get back to the Northern Tundra," said Augustus. "Hook back up with Flip and Sealia then try to figure out a way to take back Icebrough."

"And the same goes for us," said Rob. "The kingdom needs me now more than ever. Meri-an, Little John, I hope they're ok."

As the last two groups began filing out Rotor came up to them. "Wait."

Guntiver sighed. "Rotor I know you want to change our minds…"

"Actually… I was going to ask if I could come with you."

"Rotor!" came the cry from the Knothole Freedom Fighters.

Rotot turned back, his eye seemed to have a subtle red tint. "Listen I was thinking about it for the last month, Sealia and I being separated for weeks or months at a time is not ideal for a marriage, who knows throw a kid into the mix and its even worse. We kept trying to figure out who should move, who was considered more valuable to their team. Well imagine my shock today when I found out I was considered a potential threat!"

"Rotor, it was nothing personal," said Sally. "Everyone had to be checked, you could have been replaced or mind controlled."

"That doesn't explain why you went behind our backs; you could have done the same thing with a half hour conference before we got here. But now that this happened, I'm actually kind of glad, I just realized where my priorities should be."

"Mine az well," said Antione, his eyes seeming to share the same subtle tint as Rotor's. "King Robert, is zhat knighthood still available?"

"You're leaving too?!" yelled Sonic. His eyes were slightly red too. "Just for some stupid promotion!?"

"I know I never had zhe best reputation in the group; I often came off as smug, cowardly and vain; but except for when Patch replaced me my loyalty was never in question, until today. A knight is supposed to be loyal to their ruler, if that ruler proves loyal to their people. If you do not trust me zhen I am obligated to lend my sword to someone more deserving." Antione closed his eyes tearfully. "Bunnie, I'd understand if you want to stay behind."

Bunnie went next to her husband before turning back showing her tint. "Actually, I think I will join you, but I hope you don't mind if we take a little detour to the Southern Baronies first."

Nicole approached Shard; her eyes tinted as well. "Now that I think about it does your team still have room for a new Ace, Jack?"

"I can't believe this!" Sally said her eyes tinted. "My best friends are now turning their backs on the team too?! It was one mistake; I was trying help you!"

"You have a funny way of showing it," said Nicole. "Rotor's right, you could have come to us one on one, but nooo you wanted to make it part of a brilliant plan and show everyone how much a tactical genius you are. Well guess what genius, all you had to do was look back at seven years of you FAILING in deposing the fat tyrant who was hauling the world through a cesspool to know your logic kind of stinks! I must have been glitching if I couldn't see it before!"

Shard, Rob and Guntiver looked at each other. "Maybe we should wait outside until you settle…this." They left leaving the Knothole Fighters alone with Silver, Marine and Blaze.

Sally stared daggers at Nicole. "You ungrateful…"

"Ungrateful?" said Bunnie. "I stood by your side for years, I was always there when you needed someone to talk to girl to girl! I never gave anyone a reason to question if I could be counted on and you still thought I'd stab you in the back like my folks?! That's ungrateful you spoiled little princess!"

"Did you know what being my handmaiden meant before we got my father back? You weren't just a servant, if anything happened to me you were my successor, you would be the one to lead the Freedom Fighters and you would be the one to sit on the throne when it was all over! If anyone is ungrateful it's YOU, but it looks like the apple didn't fall far from the tree after all!"

"Don't talk to my wife like zhat!" yelled Antoine.

"Or my Nikki!" shouted Rotor.

"Can it tubbo!" Sonic yelled. "You too you cheese eating priss!"

"STOP IT!" Cream cried. "You're teammates, friends, family! You shouldn't treat each other this way! I don't like that they doubted me either but…"

"Be quiet!" snapped Sonic. "The grown-ups are talking!"

Cream's tears began taking a subtle reddish hue from her eyes. "Grown-ups?! If you're all so grown-up, then why don't you act like it?! I've seen toddlers more mature than all of you are right now!"

"Chao, Chao!" Cheese said backing up Cream as his eyes had the same red his partner's did.

"Zhat's not very ladylike," sneered Antione. "If only your mother could zee you now."

"Leave her alone!" yelled Tails as his red tinted eyes glared with anger. "How can any of you treat someone so sweet and innocent like that?!"

"Don't be so high and mighty Tails," said Sally. "For someone so smart you can be so gullible sometimes, you could have been leaking information just out of sheer stupidity! As naive as you are, you're lucky we let you be anything more than the team mascot or the adorable sidekick."

"Lucky?! I proven I had what it takes more times than I can count! I'm not some cowardly aloof genius who needs his hand held whenever something goes boo! I am a hero in my own right!"

Sonic smirked at Tails. "Well look who decided to put on his big boy pants today!"

"I love my Mom and Dad, they love me, but they can seem so distant sometimes and because of that I first went to you when I needed comfort even after they came back. You weren't just my brother or my Aunt Sally, you two were my mom, dad and white picket fence! But now that I know what you REALLY think about me…!"

"Calm down! All of you!" said Blaze. "Something isn't right here; you don't normally act like this. Could it have something to do with the Darkest Day?"

"Wait," said Nicole. "You KNEW something was going to happen today?!"

Silver stepped in. "Gold got some partial information that a battle on Angel Island would turn out badly for the Freedom Fighters, we didn't have details and weren't sure if it involved Sonic's death or our interloper so we made a judgement call not to interfere unless it obviously led to the Mobius Imperium rising."

"Well if you had volunteered that information maybe I would have taken 'day that went down in infamy' into account for my plans!" said Sally.

"You didn't know what you were doing, big surprise!" said Sonic. "Here's a little advice future boy, if you're going to go back in time to change things it would help if you actually, LEARNED SOME HISTORY!"

Silver looked back with tinted eyes. "Excuse me?! We sacrificed being able to live in that future to save your life you miserable little…!"

Blaze stamped her foot. "Silver, you can't let this get to you! As Princess of the Sol Islands and Guardian of the Sol Emeralds I hereby order all fighting to be stopped now!"

"Of course, your highness!" Cream said mockingly. "The best example of a princess, since you were a damsel in distress like three times already and with how often the Sol Emeralds were stolen, you're a lousy guardian too!"

Marine clenched her fist as her eyes now had the tint. "How dare you address MY Princess like that!"

Blaze hands erupted in flames that now matched her reddish eyes. "Say that again and I'll change the menu for dinner tonight to Rabbit Flambé!"

"You know what who needs you guys?!" yelled Sonic. "Now I know a bad buy is going to kill me before the year's out I know what to look out for so you can stop babysitting me!"

"I can't believe I survived for as long as I did and accomplished as much as I did when I was surrounded by so many idiots!" shouted Sally. "Alright then Rotor, Antoine, Bunnie, Nicole, you all want to leave then leave and you can ALL consider yourselves UNinvited to me and Sonic's wedding! If we have each other who, needs, you!"

"Suits me just fine!" said Rotor. "And except for Nikki you can all forget about coming to me and Sealia's wedding too! I'm going back to the frozen north were the people aren't as cold as you!"

"Me and my twan will have such a lovely time at Rabbot Manor!" said Bunnie. "I have family history to catch up on, maybe Ma and Pa had the right idea after all!"

"Zhen after zhat we'll be in Mercia where zhey know what Honor and Loyalty mean!" said Antione.

"It'll be just me, Shard and the Secret Freedom Fighters from now on! I wish I could access my program like before I was trapped in this body, just so except for my father I could delete you all from my memory!"

"I'll be glad to take you all back to Freedom City one last time!" shouted Tails. "Because the sooner I do that the sooner Cream and I can fly solo!"

Cream and Cheese stuck their tongues out while down their lower eye lids at the rest of the team.

"We'll get Gold and find our own way to save the future!" said Silver. "And as far as we're concerned you guys are all history!"

"So that's it, we're done as a team!" yelled Sonic. "And good riddance if you ask me!"

"I couldn't have said it better myself!" Sally huffed.

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

"Chao!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

Everyone stormed out of the room all more hurt than they let on.

* * *

"Divided they fall," Specter said as he made the image of the auditorium vanish. The Supreme Council looked on amazed.

"That was some very impressive spellwork," said Naugus. "Their teamwork is legendary, yet you broke it in a day."

"Not only that but you had to show them your face to cast it," said Witchcart. "Such a risky move near the end of the game was bold."

"I can't take all the credit," said Specter. "My spell didn't create the conflicts, it only magnified what was under the surface. The doubts, the fundamental disharmony, the Freedom Fighters provided that themselves."

"But was everything we gained worth the cost?" asked Regina. "Every follower the Elite had gathered in a month we lost, on purpose!"

"They are not lost Ferrum," Specter chuckled. "Consider it a test of faith on their parts. Once the Elemental War begins, we'll not only get them back but grow their numbers thousands if not millions of times over."

"So, when does this war begin?" asked Mammoth.

"Tomorrow, but not first thing. We'll give them time to prepare for a threat, then we'll strike."

"But two of the elite are down. I don't doubt your ability but without all their power…"

"Witchcart and I have that covered," said Naugus as he pulled out two pendants, one blue, one green. "We finished these today Lord Specter, Geoffrey and Lucian should get the same boost as Fiona in case they need it."

"Very well," said Specter. "How are the mothers?"

Amy and Hershey's screams could be heard from another part of the temple. "I'd say they should be done in a couple of hours," said Witchcart.

"Then you may depart and greet the future of the Order of Ixis."

* * *

The sun had gone down in Freedom City. Silver, Gold, Blaze and Marine had gathered in the apartment that served as an unofficial headquarters. "I'm sorry Gold," Silver moaned as he leaned over a table. "We shouldn't have left the Freedom Fighters without asking you."

"Me being there wouldn't have changed things," Gold said as her eyes were red from the spell she unknowingly had and with tears. "Stupid Sally, Stupid Sonic, if they told us that they were looking for a traitor I would have stopped them because of the Darkest Day, then maybe Big wouldn't have…"

"He'll pull through," said Blaze. "My reputation on the other hand, the people of the Sol Islands aren't happy that I've been away for this long and that we got so many refugees from other regions. There have even been a small minority wondering if the Sol Guardian must be the monarch. It's times like this I consider taking up catnip."

Marine entered the apartment with a box. "Well I got something to cheer you all up."

"Marine I don't think we want to be cheered up," said Silver. "Today was a total failure."

"Not a total failure, a big milestone to saving everything you've done has been crossed, and it's fitting it happened today."

"The darkest day?" asked Blaze.

"You mean with everything you forgot what date it is? It's the anniversary of when you washed up on the beach Blaze, and with the one thing that went right today I can say this officially, both to you and to Gold and Silver.

Marine opened the box.

* * *

Amy's vision was blurry. _"I must have passed out,"_ She thought to herself.

Her ears cleared up and she could hear crying, a baby crying.

"Would you like to hold your baby?" she heard Fiona say.

Now her vison was complete, the cards did not lead her wrong.

"Yes," Amy heard Hershey say. "Let me hold her."

Amy's heart stopped for a second. _"If it wasn't my baby Fiona talked about in the vison then…"_

"Amy, you're awake!" Lucian said.

Amy's sight became clearer. "Lucian, the baby, is it…?"

"Funny thing, you wanted the baby to be a surprise and it was a surprise."

Amy gasped. "What's wrong with the baby?!"

"Nothing!" Lucian said before taking her hand. "Nothing is wrong. Except it isn't the baby, it's the babies, twins."

Amy felt both relief and unbounded joy. "Please, let me see them!"

"Of course, my love, they've been impatient about it so maybe feed them to make up for keeping them waiting?"

Amy smiled. "Nothing could make me happier."

Lucian picked up two wrapped bundles. "Hey kids, say hello to mommy."

Amy took the two and pressed them to her breasts, she felt such bliss from having them nurse.

"Hello, my precious ones, you are going to be so loved." Amy turned back to Lucian. "You didn't pick names yet have you?"

"Not before but when I saw them something came to mind and it just felt right." He then leaned in and whispered in her ears.

"I was thinking of the same thing, they just seem perfect!"

Amy took at the two nursing children, a little blond tenrec girl and a little grey hedgehog boy.

"I never loved anyone more than I love the two of you, Gold and Silver."

She looked up and saw Geoffrey and Hershey smiling over the bundle in the cat's arms, Fiona was nearby, tired but looking proud. "I'm so glad you made me a part of this," said Fiona. "Now I know for sure that I want to be a mother myself one day."

"Thank you, Fiona," said Amy. "Hershey, Geoffrey meet Gold and Silver."

"They are beautiful," said Geoffrey. "And you need to meet our daughter, a little princess with her mother's fire."

Hershey shown a tiny lilac kitten who was starting to nod off and smiled. "Our little Blaze."

Amy felt her children finish eating and held them close so she could see them and the newborn kitten.

"I can already tell they'll be best friends, you three have such a wonderful future ahead of you."

The babies yawned before drifting off to sleep.

* * *

Marine lit the three candles on the cake she took out of the box. "Happy birthday everyone."

Gold sighed. "Strange right now there two of each of us in this world, all of us here after having gone through so much and three versions of us who are newborns with their whole lives ahead of them. Totally helpless, needing their parents for everything and able to offer nothing in return but unconditional love."

"Still how can it be a happy birthday?" said Blaze. "Knowing what we do, the final hurdle to make sure all the good we've done remains intact?"

"The most painful thing Amy, Lucian, Geoffrey and Hershey are ever going to go through," said Silver. "The worst crime Mammoth Mogul is ever going to commit."

* * *

"I hope I'm not interrupting this blessed moment," said Mammoth as he came into the room.

"Not at all Master Mogul," said Fiona. Both mothers and the three children are safe, healthy and beautiful."

"Can I take a look?"

"Go ahead," said Geoffrey. "We want the world to see them."

Mammoth came near Amy and gently placed the tip of his massive finger on Baby Silver's forehead. "You needn't worry about them; they'll grow up to do something incredible. After all I have plans for the future."

Baby Silver woke up and tried to grab Mammoth's finger.

"Big plans."

* * *

"He's going to take us from our parents," said Silver. "He's going to take the babies and send them into the future, once they come back, they'll be all grown up…"

Silver felt like he was a baby himself, he didn't need the mental link to tell that Gold and Blaze also felt like him, babies who just wanted to cry for mommy and daddy.

"Our moms and dads, they'll never see their babies again!"


	20. Legends of the Unbidden Temple

Sonic woke up feeling a feminine hand brush his chest, then turned to see Sally caressing him.

"I don't think we ever snuggled for that long before."

"Consider it a preview," Sally chuckled. "We're going to do a lot more than snuggle when we're on our wedding night."

"Sounds good to me, and don't worry that'll be one thing I'll want to take slow for once."

The two giggled. "I'm so happy, that completely took my mind off THEM," Sally finished with a hint of venom.

Sonic started grumbling. "Lousy, no good backstabbers, after everything we've done for 'em. We'll just take out Masquerade and Mister Perfect by ourselves. Between your brains and my speed, they won't stand a chance. Those guys had just been holding us back all these years."

"Still the wedding is going to be a headache, we'll need to find a new Maid of Honor, Best Man, Bridesmaids, Groomsmen…"

"We could go back to my original idea and just elope."

Sally began tracing her finger on Sonic's chest. "You know that might actually be best thing right now."

"Sonic!" he heard his father call. "You have company!"

"Who is it?!" Sonic yelled annoyed.

"It's me Sonic," said Knuckles. "I brought Julie and Mighty with me!"

"I'll be right there!" Sonic turned to Sally. "Hopefully, this shouldn't take long."

Sonic stepped out of his room. "I'm not in a good mood Knucklehead so this better…URK!"

Knuckles suddenly punched Sonic in the face.

"What are you doing?!" yelled Jules.

"Sonic!" Sally yelled.

"Good you're here too," Julie-su said. She then slapped the princess in the face.

"Ow!"

"Have you two completely lost your minds?!" yelled Jules.

"Bear with me for a moment," Knuckles turned back to Sonic and Sally. "The pain should help you both realize, Specter cast some sort of spell on us back in the Emerald Chamber of the Hidden Palace, Athair called it a curse. The small doubts and resentments you might have to anyone else with the curse are inflated to where you can't stand them but not enough to lash out physically so it can stay hidden. You must fight it, push that burning haze out of your mind and realize that the others aren't your enemies!"

Sonic and Sally growled but the gasped in realization, the red tint in their eyes vanished. "W-what have we done?! We practically tossed all our friends out and…!"

"None of us were behaving like ourselves," Knuckles turned to Julie-su with a blush. "After you guys left, I started blaming you for what happened to Mom, I'd still be blaming you if Julie hadn't slapped me like that."

"I was just surprised when you asked me to do it to you again," said Julie. "At the time I just thought that trying to come to grips with Lara-le's condition was making you into a jerk.

"In any case I need you two and the rest of your team. I found Specter's base, but we need your help to get there."

"What are you talking about?" asked Sally. "None of the wizards we caught knew where it was."

Knuckles took out a map and laid it on a table. "Specter probably wanted the Master Emerald so no one could use it to cancel out the Chaos Emeralds he has, that desire for control is going to be his undoing. I can sense the Master Emerald, even if it's broken into pieces, so I just took a map to focus my senses on where it was on Mobius and they led me here." Knuckles then pointed to a small island surrounded by others.

Sonic nodded. "Devil's Gulag, fitting the guy would use the former home for the worst scum on Mobius as his own. Not only that but after two big breakouts courtesy of Eggman followed by the volcanoes in the area starting to get even more volatile the place was abandoned so he just had to move in."

"Probably found it to be some sort of place of power," said Sally. "On top of a dormant volcano with clear access to the sky and surrounded by water you have all four elements right there. The boiling sea and the sheer cliffs that made it so hard to escape also make it difficult to attack."

"We tried to use a warp ring to get there only to be blocked by some kind of barrier," said Julie. "But since they tried to keep the location secret, I'm betting that an aerial approach isn't so easily guarded against."

"I know it might be a big ask but we need the Sky Patrol," said Knuckles. "While Julie doesn't want me going without her and Mighty wants to try getting Fiona back himself the rest of the Chaotix have to stay back and fix up the damage from the attack. Given what we'll be up against the three of us and your team are the best chance we got."

"But everyone's split!" said Sonic. "Rotor's way up north, Bunnie and Twan are either in the Baronies or Mercia, Nicole's with the Secret Freedom Fighters who've gone radio silent, we have no idea where Silver and Gold are, and Blaze and Marine are probably halfway to the Sol Islands by now! We don't have enough of a team to fly there much less fight."

"What about Tails and Cream?" said Mighty. "Somehow I doubt their parents would just let them go off somewhere without asking questions that would make them suspicious about why they got into a fight with everyone else."

Jules sighed. "Rosemary and Amadeus have been with Bernie and the rest of the council in an emergency meeting since Sally told us that Charlemagne and Specter were the same person, I actually doubt they were able to see Tails since he got back." Jules then clenched his fist. "Part of me is seriously thinking about having my brother roboticize me again just so I won't have to be reminded every time I look in a mirror of how that slimeball used me to get everyone to trust him!"

Julie clapped his shoulder. "Don't let him get to you, he used everyone. How about Cream's parents? From what I heard about Vanilla she'd probably could set anyone straight with a few choice gentle words."

"We'll stop by on our way to the Sky Patrol hangar," said Sally as she reached for the door. "Time's of the essence so…"

Sally opened the door only for Tails, Cream and Cheese to be standing on the other side looking a little disheveled. After a few seconds of silence everyone started speaking at once.

"I'm sorry that…"

"I'm sorry that…"

"I'm sorry that…"

"I'm sorry that…"

"Wait you're not under…?!"

"Wait you're not under…?!"

"Wait you're not under…?!"

"Wait you're not under…?!"

"We were just about to…!"

"We were just about to…!"

"We were just about to…!"

"We were just about to…!"

Knuckles whistled. "One at a time! Sal you first, go."

"Tails, Cream curse or not I never should have said any of those horrible things to you!"

"We know now you didn't mean any of it," said Tails. "But we shouldn't have gone off on you either."

"So, we're all cool now little buddy?" asked Sonic.

"We're cool, but how'd did you two snap out of it?"

"Knux and Julie knocked some sense into us," said Sonic. "You guys?"

Cream blushed furiously. "When we got back the Wild Bunch were throwing a party to celebrate when they first became a team. Tails and I thought it would be a great start to our solo adventuring careers, so we joined without telling anyone we left the Freedom Fighters. Little did we know Porker, Tekno and Ebony used a potion Ebony knew in everyone's drinks to get Mother and Father into 'the spirit of things'."

"It lowered everyone's inhibitions," Tails said flushed red himself. "It was a side of miss Vanilla I never saw before, and Cream never realized she had. Between the dancing and the music someone stepped on Cheese's foot, that got him to realize what happened and then he bit us to get us out of the spell. I forget that those sharp teeth Chao tend to hide aren't just for show."

"But even with that the potion didn't make us realize what happened until the morning," Cream's face now looked like a tomato. "While me and mother were in 'wild girl' mode she and father wanted to teach me something they thought I'd find useful and because of it… mother and I couldn't find our skirts for an hour after we woke up."

Jules gasped. "You mean…?!"

"NO!" Cream regained her composure. "I mean it was just the powderpuff, you know how boys and girls with stubby tails use them in a way like kissing."

"They must have really been out of it then," said Julie. "Despite your looks you're seven, I didn't learn about tail tickling until I was twelve!"

"I was ten myself," said Sonic. "I learned all about tail tickling, the powderpuff, the swish, the feather duster, the paintbrush…"

"I keep forgetting how big of a flirt you used to be," Sally groaned.

"We're wasting time!" shouted Mighty. "We need the Sky Patrol to get to Devil's Gulag and stop Specter!"

Sally nodded. "I'm sure once Father and the council are informed that we found the Order's hideout they'll give us the go ahead for this mission." She then turned to Cream. "I'm afraid that you'll have to stay behind for an equally important assignment, try to get into contact the Artic, Mercian and Secret Freedom Fighters as well as the Sol Islands. We need to tell them what happened to Nicole, Bunnie, Antione, Rotor, Blaze and Marine and how to get them to break the spell. If you know anyone who lives near Rabbot Manor in the Southern Baronies let them know in case Bunnie and Antione are still there."

"There are a few family friends from when Mother and I lived there I can reach," said Cream.

"So, what are we waiting for?" said Sonic. "Specter tricked us, trashed our homes, took our friends and kicked our butts. I say it's time we returned the favor."

"But what about Mr. Silver and Miss Gold?"

Sally sighed. "Until we know where they went, we'll just have to keep an eye out and try to reason with them if we cross paths. Still it would useful to know what they're doing right now."

* * *

Amy smiled as Baby Gold stuck her tongue out slightly while the later had her diaper changed. Feeling playful Amy did the same, her daughter pulled her tongue back in.

"Ah you're no fun."

However once Amy pulled her tongue in Baby Gold stuck hers out again.

"Oh, so THAT'S the game you're playing with mommy." Amy stuck her tongue out again causing her daughter to pull hers in again only to stick it out again when Amy pulled back.

"As much fun as you two are having Silver's awake," said Lucian as he picked the baby hedgehog out of the crib in the room set aside for the Elite to use as a nursery. "You know he doesn't like being apart from his sister and that he has a set of lungs on him."

Amy finished taping up the diaper. "You heard daddy Gold; I'll get the mobile spinning."

Lucian watched as the twins were put down and made cooing noises at each other. "Still it all feels a little unreal, I'm a dad."

At that moment crying came from another crib in the room.

"I got it," Geoffrey said as he picked up the lilac kitten. "Hershey's trying to catch up on sleep. Ok Mommy fed you just before putting you down, you don't seem to need a change right now…"

Baby Blaze stopped crying and started to gently coo.

"Looks like she just wanted to be held," said Amy.

Geoffrey looked at the kitten. "Supposedly we're supposed to be able to tell their cries apart for different things they want. You'd think if they figured that out, they'd put in down in a book or something."

"Well I think it's different for each kid," said Lucian. "They're still trying to know what to say themselves."

"I'm still kind of surprised though," said Amy. "I mean when Mobians of two different species have children it's usually twins with one from each parent species. You aren't disappointed that Blaze doesn't have a little skunk to play with?"

Geoffrey sighed. "I did imagine a little boy who'd carry on the St. John's name but seeing Blaze none of that matters to me, that and with single children a younger sibling usually is the species of the other parent so maybe if she gets a little brother or sister someday. Besides when she needs to have her diaper changed, I'm convinced there's still a bit of skunk in her." He began to tickle his daughter's stomach causing the kitten to laugh. "Yes, you're daddy's little stinker aren't you? Aren't you?"

"Ahem," Fiona stood in the doorway to the nursery. "I hate to interrupt your family bonding, but the Supreme Council needs to speak with both Lucian and Geoffrey about the final preparations for the Elemental War."

"Just the two of us?" asked Lucian.

"Hershey and Amy still need to recover from giving birth, but we're not expecting too much trouble."

"Go ahead," Amy said taking Baby Blaze. "I'll hold her for a little while and wake Hershey if I need help."

"Thank you," Geoffrey then turned to his daughter. "You be good for mommy and Mrs. Rose until I get back ok?"

"Ga." said the Kitten.

"Good girl."

As Amy cuddled the kitten Lucian leaned over the edge of the crib and looked at the twins. "Daddy has work to do but I promise I'll be back." He placed his fingers near the babies letting them grab his fingertips. "I never got to know my parents, but you will get to know me my little girl, my little boy."

"Boo."

"Aba."

He gave both a kiss then left with Geoffrey and Fiona.

After a short walk Fiona stopped them in front of a door. "Before you enter, I have something for you both." She took out two teardrop shaped pendants, one blue and one green, and gave them to the men. "Put them on now, they'll strengthen your powers in case you need them."

The two each put the pendants around their necks and their suddenly became purple.

"Finally," said Geoffrey. "A body of my own again."

"So, this is what it's like to have thumbs," said Lucian. "Now I know why everyone else makes a big deal about them."

"Yeah, yeah," Agunus grumbled from Fiona. "We each have our own bodies now. As much as we don't want to deal with each other or Naugus ever again first we have to secure our power by getting rid of Specter and to that end the mutant, Mammoth and the rest need to discuss their plan with us."

The possessed Skunk turned to Lucian. "Something big must be about to go down Suguna, we better follow along…for now."

"Very well Nusgau," said the possessed Tenrec.

The three came into the room where Witchcart kept her cauldron, she and the rest of the Supreme Council had gathered.

"Ah all my predecessors are now bothering someone else's head instead of my own," said Naugus. "But knowing you I bet you each already came up with a plan to get rid of me and the others, know I already did the same myself but seeing which of us is truly the superior will have to wait. Specter is about to kick off his elemental war."

"So, what's the plan?" asked Nusgau.

"Charlemagne had only awoken an hour ago," said Witchcart. "Specter's vessel won't survive the day so that means he'll have to bring his new vessel to the temple very soon. We just have to prevent the transfer."

"And how are you going to do that?" asked Suguna.

"Like this," said Regina as she stood next to a cupboard. She opened it up and Snively tumbled out covered in Ixis garb.

Snively gasped for air. "I thought I was going to suffocate in there! After being an inmate in this prison once I hope this is the last time I ever come here!"

"I sorry my Snively," said Regina. "But with all our acolytes abandoned in yesterday's mission this was the best way to make sure you were hidden. But are you wearing the tracking device?"

"Not exactly," Snively sighed rubbing his arm. "Turns out as part of my initial physical soon after boarding the Colossus Doctor Robotnick had slipped a few tracking nanites into a 'routine inoculation'. The device is in my bloodstream."

"All the better," said Mammoth. "I'll make sure the new mothers don't interfere, Robotnick should be here before or when the vessel is brought here. All the not-so-good doctor will have to do is…"

* * *

Up on the Colossus Viktor Robotnick grinned as he looked at a marker on a digital map with red and black eyes. "…follow the yellow blip road."

"All weapons are armed," Phage said from a nearby terminal. "Four neo swat battalions are standing by to attack. Red Knight and White Bishop are ready for deployment on your orders."

"Good, now that The Ascendancy has the territorial advantage it's time to tie up the loose end that is The Order of Ixis and as a bonus those Chaos Emeralds should ensure my army is powerful enough to crush any further opposition now that I have the means to use them to full effect."

"What about Snively?" asked Lilith. "Are you sure he'll be able to escape your bombardment of Devil's Gulag?"

"If he can't then he's of no further use to us, but I expect he'll worm his way out with Regina in tow. Specter and any who stand with him are finished, any in the coup who escape we'll deal with later."

Neo Metal Sonic stepped up. "The rest of the Neo Metal series is ready to command the battalions, but I question taking us off the front lines for this mission. I know this is to keep up our momentum in our conquest, but it sounds like you're taking this personally."

"Snively told me their entire plan, including that the Freedom Fighters getting their brains back in the Hot Lab was Specter's doing for his own goals. I don't like being made a chump, after today the world will know what happens to those who double cross Viktor Robotnick. If anyone is going to rule this world it's us."

Still why this much firepower?" asked Phage. "If we use all this there will be nothing left of the island."

"White Bishop and Red Knight acquired some…interesting intel," said Lilith. "It's classified but for now know that we're not taking any chances on this one, the only future we will permit to happen is one where the Robotnick Ascendancy rules this planet and beyond."

The Colossus continued to power its way to its destination and the inevitable showdown.

* * *

Bunnie looked on at the plantation house that had certainly seen better days. Weeds had taken over the gardens, there were several broken windows, the white paint had mostly peeled away and the grand columns up front had several noticeable cracks.

"Maybe it izn't as bad on the inside non?" said Antione.

Bunnie sighed. "I can't believe after everything I've been through, I'm afraid of an old house I barely remember. Still if Ma and Pa wanted me to have it, I guess there's no harm in takin' a look at least."

The couple came to the front double doors. Antione gently knocked only for the doors to fall ahead of him off their hinges making a big crash when they hit the floor. "I guess we can also add fix front door to zhe list."

Bunnie stepped into the main foyer and looked around. The chandelier, several tables and other pieces of furniture were covered in dust cloth which was covered in dust itself but underneath she could tell how beautiful and grandiose Rabbot Manor was in its heyday. "Was I really born here? This isn't a mansion, it's a palace."

The couple went through the ground floor room by room. Most were the same, peeling wallpaper, some broken floorboards and portraits what were covered in cloth. Most were of relatives Bunnie didn't know but near the comparatively intact ballroom was one that depicted a couple of rabbits that she vaguely recalled.

"It's them, Ma and Pa, before they turned on Uncle Beau and the Kingdom, before the overlanders turned on 'em and…" Bunnie shook her head. "Just give me a moment."

The buck rabbit was wearing a fine white suit and sported a distinguished white mustache and goatee. The doe wore a fancy pink dress and held a folding fan, her ears tied back in a manner like a ponytail. Both had a stern look to them.

"Pardon me but zhey don't seem very pleasant."

"From what I heard they weren't, maybe this was a mistake."

Antione lowered the cloth and began leading Bunnie out. "Well we can find someone else to appraise the place. You can sell it and don't have to worry about…"

Suddenly Bunnie stopped as they began to pass by a fancy but otherwise ordinary drawing room. She went to the edge of the door and knelt as low as she could as if trying to see something. Then a memory came rushing back to her, the mansion was back in its full glory as her parents were talking to an overlander woman in some fancy uniform.

"This information would let us bypass the Acorn forces undetected and capture the town before they can reinforce it. Afraid we'd kill your brother Jedidiah?"

"If he is willing to turn his back on generations of tradition then he is no brother of mine."

"Independence for the Baronies is all we're concerned about, along with what you promised."

"Rest assured Suzanne we have dealt with this a long…"

Suddenly the two rabbits turned to where Bunnie was.

"Springbean, what are you doing up?" Jedidiah asked his face and Suzanne's becoming much softer.

Bunnie almost answered until she saw a version of herself step forward, two to three years old wearing pink coverall pajamas with a bottom flap that had a hole for her tail and holding a blanket in one hand and a sippy cup in the other.

"Foursty, cawwot joose pawease."

Susanne knelt and picked the toddler up. "I'm sorry Springbean but if I give you carrot juice now, you'll be up all night. How about while your pa and the nice lady talk, I'll get you some water then you can go to bed and dream about havin' all the carrot juice you want."

"Ohtay Mama, nigh-nigh Papa, nigh-nigh noice wady."

Then the ghosts of the past faded away.

"Bunnie?" the coyote asked.

"I-I just remembered them, really remembered them. I was such a young'n when everything happened, I thought that all I would ever have was what other people would tell me." Bunnie stood up. "There's a room I gotta see."

Bunnie ran upstairs Antione close behind her. She came to another dusty room, a nursery with a small bed and several toys on the floor collecting dust. Antione came in as Bunnie looked at a tiny bed. "Is zhis?"

"My nursery," said Bunnie. "From what Derrick Fox told me I was sleepin' right here when he came back after the Battle of Winding Pass. He told me that Ma and Pa needed me to go with him to see Uncle Beau and that they would come for me later. He said it was close, if he was a few minutes late or he wasn't good as he was at being sneaky then I'd have been with Ma and Pa when the overlanders…"

"Zhis is too much," said Antione. "Let's go to Mercia, have someone else appraise the house."

Bunnie then grabbed Antione's hand. "No, it's fine. I'm not upset it's just I heard a lot about the family from Uncle Beau and Aunt Lulu but now I think I'm starting to understand what they meant. Just one more place before we get finished listing things off."

They only went a door down the hall and came into the master bedroom Bunnie went to a bookshelf and took two leather bound books off it. One looked heavy and contained a family tree the accounts of several distinguished looking rabbits. The other was smaller but still old looking, inside was a half-filled photo album. "As much as tech's been a big part of our lives it's hard to believe Mobians only began using things like photographs back when our parents were youngun's"

She started in middle where the pictures stopped suddenly and began working back. The in the most recent it was a lot like that night she remembered, her mother and father with her as a toddler, she worked backwards, she was wearing a diaper, first birthday, first steps, starting to crawl, wrapped in a bundle as her mother held her, then just her father and a mother with a very large belly, then both dressed for a wedding, another photo showing Beauregard and Lulumae at their wedding. Finally, at the first page it showed four rabbit kids, two boys and two girls one of which had her ears tied back like a ponytail, covered in nothing but a large coat of mud all laughing and smiling.

Bunnie began tearing up. "Ma and Aunt Lulu were best friends before they married into the family, Pa and Uncle Beau too." The tears seemed to bring out the red in Bunnie's eyes. "They'd still have been friends if weren't for Sally's ancestors."

"We're leaving all zhat behind," said Antione as his eyes became more red. "An ocean away, Mercia will be a good place for your family to start…"

"No," Bunnie wiped the tears away. "I've made up my mind about what to do with the house. I'm still coming with you, but I'll have someone fix everything up and bring Rabbot Manor back to its former glory. Because once this war is over, once we finally have peace, I want us to live here, I want our children to grow up here like generations of my family have! I'm a Rab-bot and proud of it, but I'm also a Rab-beaux and I won't let my family's legacy just die out!"

Antione hugged his wife. "It iz beautiful, it will be our castle, our family's castle."

Bunnie smiled but then looked back at the coyote slyly. "How about I give you a bit of a preview? You and me on this bed that that Uncle Beau told me gained a bit of a reputation in the family. I was conceived in it, so was Pa, my uncle, my grandpa and so many Rabbot boys and girls. The story goes the wood of the frame gives an odor that induces something ancestral in rabbits, that thing that made us prone to big families, that's why this bed has been called The Babymaker. I'm not in heat but we can still see if it puts me in the 'family mood'.

Antione responded by kissing her deeply. "Perhaps we can also see if it's not just rabbits it works on…"

Bunnie and Antione slipped under the covers and moved in for another kiss.

The next thing they knew both them and the bed were thrown against the wall of the room by a ball of hardened lava that burst out of the opposite wall.

"Ugh," Antione shook his head. "What happened? Wait, we vere under a spell. It made me act like cur to the others!"

Bunnie grunted as she began to rise out of the wrecked bed. "Me too sug, I feel awful about it. But what just happened?"

A roar came outside a gaping hole in the wall leading to the garden outside. Through the hole Bunnie saw a giant made of hardened lava next to a stone one holding a club, knight looking creature that seem to be made of wind and a large creature watery creature that bore a resemblance to Chaos 6.

"Merci…" Antione said. His legs buckled until he grabbed his sword.

Bunnie however gritted her teeth. "Get away…" She leapt out the hole and punched the lava titan with her robotic arm. "Get away from my house!"

* * *

Up on the Sky Patrol the radio crackled to life. "Sky Patrol come in!" King Max said from the other end. "Freedom City is under attack! Elemental creatures are pounding at our defenses and capturing anyone they subdue! Our troops can destroy them, but they just keep reforming! We're getting reports of attacks like this all over Mobius, they're targeting us, the United Federation, the Robotnick Ascendancy, everyone!"

Sally came next to Sonic and picked up the microphone on the console Bunnie usually manned. "Don't worry father, if this is the Specter's doing then we're moving to take these things out at the source. Try to hold out for as long as you can!"

"I understand my little bean, good luck to all of you."

"Looks like Masquerade is making his move," said Sonic. "Better step on it Tails."

Tails nodded from the helm. "Roger that, we should see Devil's Gulag soon. We're going to get back our friends, the essences, the emeralds, everything. As Uncle Derrick used to say, let's hit this henhouse."

On the viewport the spires of the prison rose from the mountain top, but now they were covered in black stone and gave a strange purple glow. An ominous cloud seemed to settle over the whole area.

Julie whistled from the engineering station. "The henhouse huh? Then it looks like it belongs to one big ugly, hen."

The radar panel beeped. "I'm picking up something," said Mighty. "There's a ship actually sailing into that boiling sea!"

"But that's suicide!" Knuckles yelled from tactical. "Who'd do something like that?!"

Tails began working a control panel to the side. "Hang on, our cameras should give us a visual on it."

The viewport changed to show a large gold and blue cross between a sail and paddleboat with a big gold eagle on the bow sprit in the middle of the storm-tossed boiling sea.

"The Ocean Tornado?!" said Tails. "But what are Blaze and Marine doing out here?"

Sally sat back down in the captain's chair. "Whatever it is I'm not sure that ship can run in water that hot for long and the winds around here are unpredictable. We have to tell Marine and Blaze what happened to us."

Sonic turned the microphone on. "Sky Patrol to Ocean Tornado please respond."

* * *

"Ocean Tornado come in," came Sonic's voice from the radio. "Blaze, Marine you are both…"

Silver used his telekinesis to turn the radio off. "Gold you're sure that the Order of Ixis is headquartered at this island?"

Gold nodded. "Specter actively resisted my attempts to read his mind in that chamber, but I did manage to pick out two words."

"Devil's Gulag," said Blaze. "It was lucky you spotted it when Marine went over the sea charts to find the fastest way back to the Sol Islands. Since there's a good chance the interloper is somehow connected to the Order going there is the best chance we have to stop the Mobius Imperium before it starts and at the same time we can make sure that Mammoth Mogul will be able to…" Blaze looked away sadly. "…kidnap our younger selves."

"I can't imagine what you're goin' through mates," Marine said from the ship's wheel. "It must be so much harder since you got a sense for who your parents were."

Silver blushed. "Makes one previous timeline where my mother was attracted to me thinking I was Sonic in the dark awkward. With the timeline changing because of my actions how we grew up had a lot of little details shifted around and Blaze mostly draws from her experiences from after she was bound to the Sol Dimension as her real childhood so we're not tempted to change it for our sakes. It's what our parents are going to go through that has us worried, having your child taken from you is a parent's worst nightmare, not only that if this mental block they all have is undone would they even see us in the same way? Gold was right it would have been a lot easier if they were just strangers to us."

"Well we never had an easy path," said Blaze. "Plus, there's a very strong chance the Interloper is the one responsible for that block, we'll just need…" Blaze looked out to the distance several flying shapes were coming towards them. "We've got company! Marine hard right rudder and arm the weapons!"

Up ahead bat like fire creatures, bees made of stone, bird headed tornados and water creatures that resembled a smaller Chaos 4 were approaching them.

Marine spun the wheel while flipping a red switch. "Right full rudder, arming weapons! Aye, aye ma'am!" The ship began turning to starboard, a gun turret rose from below the deck and a few cannons came from ports on the side. "Steady on course ma'am!"

"Very well. Wait for my signal, then fire and shift your rudder!"

"Wait for your signal, then fire and shift rudder. Aye, aye ma'am!"

"Gold can you man the turret?"

"Sure thing," said the Tenrec as she leapt into the gunner's seat.

Silver powered his psychokinesis. "I'll be ready to launch back as many projectiles as I can catch!"

Blaze ignited her flames. "Good, because here they come! Fire!"

As the elementals came in the Ocean Tornado let loose turret rounds cannon balls and a flamethrower that Blaze supercharged. The elementals were dissipated but not before the Ibis Takers hurled fire balls and the stone bees fired stingers, Silver telekinetically grabbed as many as he could, but the ship took a few hits.

Marine turned the Ocean Tornado into a hard left back towards their original heading. "Meet her then steady on course!"

Marine began slowing the turn. "Meeting her then steady on course. Aye, aye ma'am!"

As soon as the elementals reformed Silver threw the collected projectiles forcing them to reform again. "We'll get nowhere if we have to keep doing this!"

A few of the lava globs passed Silver's defenses, one of them destroyed the gun turret causing Gold to be thrown onto the deck.

"Oof!"

"Gold you ok?" asked Silver.

Gold's mark began glowing along with her eyes. "Sorry for the intrusion, but I have to get something off your minds!"

The other three clutched their heads for a moment as the red was dispelled from their eyes.

"We were under a spell?" said Blaze. "But how did…?"

"I used my mental healing power to break the curse. It was also how was able to adjust your minds to the different timelines and I can even use a person's mental energy to heal their own wounds."

Silver growled. "Our primary mission was to protect Sonic, even as angry as that spell made us how could just ignore that?!"

"We can beat ourselves up later!" said Marine. "Those wankers are still comin' for us!"

A few stone needles had torn through the paddlewheels allowing the boiling sea to slowly leak in.

Gold rushed to the radio. "Mayday, mayday! This is the Ocean Tornado to Sky Patrol. We are under attack and taking on water, request immediate assistance!"

"We copy Ocean Tornado," Sonic said from the radio. "We'll try to come for you…"

* * *

Up above the Sky Patrol was taking hits from the flying elementals. "…unfortunately, we have our hands full at the moment!"

Knuckles growled as he controlled the ship's weapons. "We just lost the Laser Blasters and the Particle Beam Cannon! The ammo for everything else isn't going to last that much longer!"

"Engine output down to seventy percent," said Julie. "If we're going to make a rescue attempt, we have to do it now."

"Tails try to bring us in low enough to pick them up," said Sally. "I know slowing down for a rescue is going to be very risky..."

"Then don't stop," Silver said over the radio. "I can levitate us all up with my psychokinesis, just concentrate on providing us cover fire."

"He's right," said Tails. "Just open the hangar and I'll try to get us as close as possible."

The Sky Patrol dove near the sinking Ocean Tornado just as Silver levitated everyone up. Both were becoming surrounded by elementals.

"That's it," Knuckles groaned. "The Anti-Air Missiles and the Volkan Cannon are spent. All we have left is the Sonic Power Cannon and I know shooting Sonic into that boiling soup is not an option."

"Can this get any worse?" Sally sighed.

An alarm came from the radar station.

"You just had to ask," moaned Sonic.

Mighty had his attention on his screen. "Something huge just appeared off our stern!"

The viewport shown a giant battleship appear out of thin air. Sally gritted her teeth. "The Colossus."

"They're opening fire, wait most of it is heading to the elementals!"

Outside the Colossus unloaded its guns and missiles while launching aviator neo swats.

"Silver and the others are in!" said Tails. "Taking evasive action!"

"Well we guessed Mr. Perfect didn't like being played by the Pick-a-Card Club," said Sonic. "What say we take advantage of him?"

Sally nodded. "Get to the Sonic Power Cannon, you're going to clear a path for us to get to that fortress."

"Somehow I doubt they'll just let us use their landing pad," said Knuckles.

"Which is why we're not going to use it. The Sonic Power Cannon is going to bust a hole into that fortress that we're going to fly the Sky Patrol into. Unfortunately, we'll have to settle for a crash landing."

The bridge shook violently.

"Port side engine's hit!" said Julie. "Output down to thirty percent! If we're going to do this, we better do it now!"

Sally hit the intercom button on her chair. "All hands, strap in!"

Sonic ran out of the bridge. "I'm in position!" he said from the speakers a half second later.

"Fire once we have a shot at the fortress Knuckles, Sonic should be able to plow through any enemies in his way. Tails, Julie, as soon as we fire head for Devil's Gulag at maximum possible speed. Burn out the engines if you have to, something tells me we were going to have to replace them anyway."

Knuckles kept both eyes on the targeting display. "Firing Sonic Power Cannon…NOW!"

Sonic was launched into a line of elementals before breaking a big hole into the Temple of Ixis.

"Gun it Tails!" Sally shouted. "All hands brace for impact!"

The Sky Patrol suddenly accelerated through the opening Sonic made and crashed into the hole in the temple.

* * *

From the bridge of the Colossus Robotnik watched as smoke billowed of the entrance Sonic made.

"Do you think they survived?" Asked Lilith.

Viktor gave a shark like grin as his eyes turned black. "If they didn't fine, otherwise they'll go down with Specter as we wipe that prison off the map."

"Diverting power from all non-essential systems," said Phage. "Shields holding at ninety three percent, initial squadron of aviator swats down to eight percent strength."

"Launch two more squadrons with the Neo Metal Series commanding them. Get Red Knight and White Bishop prepped for deployment and activate the control thrones."

"As you command doctor."

Two chairs rose in the middle of the bridge each with a needle like arm that looked ready to stab whoever sat in them right in the brain stem. Viktor and Lilith each sat down.

"We're ready to assume direct control of the battle," Lilith said. "Jack us in."

"Executing command."

The needle like arms thrust forward into ports in the back of their heads. The two would be tyrants' eyes closed but moved rapidly underneath as if they were dreaming.

* * *

Sally groaned as she sat back up, all around her panels sparked and wires dangled from the ceiling. "Is everybody in one piece?"

"I think so," said Knuckles.

"I just got word from Blaze," said Julie. "She and the others are ok. Sonic is with them now."

Sally sighed in relief. "Good, damage report."

"Believe me you don't want to know," said Mighty.

"I thought as much," said Tails. "I don't think the Tornado is going to be able to carry all of us back to the mainland."

"Sorry little bro," Sonic said as he Silver, Blaze, Marine and Gold came in. "But that little maneuver chucked it out of the hanger and into one of Robotnick's missiles." He turned to Silver. "I don't suppose once this is over you can return the favor by floating us back?"

Silver shook his head. "Even if I was flying solo that I'd tire out before getting back to safe land."

"We'll just have to cross that bridge when we come to it," said Sally. "As for the apologies for what we said under that spell they'll have to wait until after we save the world."

"Consider them already accepted them for my part," said Blaze before turning to Sonic. "You've been here before; can you point us to where the essences are likely to be?"

Sonic shook his head. "They were going to send me here when Drago framed me for Sally's supposed assassination, but I got loose before the ship arrived. I did get here to stop a takeover and escape attempt Eggman set in motion, but I didn't pay much attention to the layout."

"Looks like we'll have to scour this fortress top to bottom then," said Knuckles. "And we better hurry, the longer we take the more damage Specter's elementals will do to the rest of Mobius, plus we can't be sure Robotnick will be able to hold those things off forever and then the Order will concentrate all their security on us."

The team left the Sky Patrol and found themselves going through twisting corridors. Tails double checked his Miles Electric. "This is weird according to the map data I'm making we should have already looped back to the Sky Patrol with the turns we took."

Mighty took a good look around. "As someone who has been in a prison before they shouldn't be designed like this, it would not only confuse the prisoners but the guards too. It looks like Specter rearranged everything when he took over, finding Fiona and the others could be impossible."

"Not if I zip ahead and check every room myself," Sonic said with a thumbs up.

"No, we have to stick together," said Sally. "If we get separated, we might never find each other again."

After turning a corner, they found a metallic door in the wall where Gold stopped them. "Wait someone's being held prisoner here!"

They came in and the human girl in one of the cells turned to them. "Who's there!?"

"Princess Elise?!" Silver gasped.

The human looked confused. "You know me?"

Silver pulled the cell door from its hinges telekinetically. "It was… another timeline. All that matters now is that we're here to stop the Order of Ixis and rescue some friends."

"I'm still not sure how we're going to convince them to abandon the order though," said Julie.

"That may actually be the easy part," said Gold. "I didn't do this earlier because of events that had to play out, but now it should be safe for me to use my telepathy to…"

"No!" yelled Elise. "It's not safe at all! The reason I was captured was because I found out Specter's biggest secret, how he controls his followers, what he intends to do to the world once the elementals have spread far enough. There is a horrible truth about the origins of both you Mobians and Overlanders, one that triggers something in your DNA. Once you learn it, you'll not only be his slaves you'll want to be his slaves."

"Meaning if I used my mental healing on them, I'd just be exposing myself."

Sally raised her hand. "Wait, if that was how he controlled the wizards that attacked Angel Island then why did they forget it when he abandoned them?"

"When he did that it caused a contradiction between what they observed and what their genetics were telling them, as a defensive measure the very part of your genetic code that reacts to this knowledge wipes it clean. Since it is contextualized based on your memories to that point even the previous contradictions make sense if exposed again."

Sally looked like the cogs in her head were turning. "Wait, Amy and the others had already left before Specter turned on their recruits. If we tell them what he did they might react in the same way, then we just have to refuse to listen to Specter and we can put a stop to his plans once and for all!"

"Sounds good," said Sonic. "But how can we even touch Masquerade?"

"There was something about the fight you had with him before I noticed," said Blaze. "I don't think the second time you hit him was for show, he was focusing his attention on the portal he opened. Unless they are using a split image double, an Ixis Wizard can't use more than one spell at a time, so he has to lower his defenses to attack."

"Then if we wait for him to try to attack us, we can exploit that opening," said Knuckles. "Only question now is how to find our way through this mystic maze. With elementals attacking Angel Island again along with everywhere else we're up against the clock."

Julie pulled out her blaster. "Then let's go for the direct approach. I shoot and you punch until we find the bad guys."

Knuckles smiled. "I love that about you."

Knuckles punched a wall causing it to make several large cracks, Julie shot where Knuckles' blow landed causing the cracks to rapidly spread throughout the room. "Ok, maybe the direct approach wasn't the best idea," said the cyborg echidna.

The point of impact began to collapse seeming to fall into an empty void.

"That shouldn't be happening," said Marine.

Tails sighed. "Now you know why I never took up magic."

The walls, floor, bars, and all the room's occupants soon fell into the void as began to become separated from each other. Suddenly Sonic found himself landing on a stone floor with Knuckles and a bit of the rubble of the collapsed cells. The room they were in was circular with a large door one side, carved in the middle of the floor was a triangle that was pointing away from the door with a line across the bottom.

Sonic sighed. "Something tells me if we don't want to repeat what just happened, we should take the door out."

Knuckles started heading to the door when the triangle glowed blue, a moment later Lucian rose up from it as if he was raising out of a pool of water.

"So, it has finally come to this," said the Tenrec. "The door will not open as long as I oppose you."

"Lucian cut it out!" yelled Sonic. "You barely fought before, and Knuckles and I have taken on more than you can imagine. This is all pointless anyway, Specter…"

"It doesn't matter what you say Specter has done!" Lucian snapped as he glared back with violet eyes. "You're in the way of our conquest of Mobius, so I'm going to remove you!"

"So that's it, you're just a bad guy?" said Knuckles. "You're just working for Specter to grab power?"

"I don't think that's it," said Sonic. "There's something different about him, let's just knock him out and settle it later after we get back with everyone else."

"I don't think so," Lucian chuckled. "Even if by some chance you manage to beat me, my allies will have probably taken care of your friends."

* * *

Sally and Julie-su drew their weapons as Geoffrey St. John came up from an upward pointing triangle with a line across it carved into floor with a gust. "Such a shame, a pair of such lovely ladies have come all the way here just to die at my hand."

Julie took aim at the wizard. "Not going to happen Stripes."

Sally stood between them. "Geoffrey there's something important you have to know about…"

Geoffrey's violet eyes were filled with indifference. "Whatever you have to say it's not going to work, I'm not as naive as your family. I will not be denied the power I fought so long for."

"I can't believe the arrogance coming off this guy," said Julie. "After everything he's done are you sure you don't want me to just shoot him?"

"Only to stun, even when he was against us, he never indicated it was for his own gain so something's off here. Let's capture him and get back to the others, then he'll have now choice but to listen.

"Sorry, but they'll have met their own ends by then," said Geoffrey.

* * *

Mighty and Tails watched as Fiona rose from a blank downward pointing triangle. "Hello boys, welcome to the end of the line."

"Fiona you have to stop this!" said Mighty. "Specter is playing you…"

Fiona laughed before gazing at the two with violet eyes. "I don't care what Specter did and I don't need a couple of knights in shining armor to come save me, the only thing that has ever mattered to me was power."

"I don't believe you," said Tails. "You went off with Scourge for the fun of it and because you didn't trust anyone else, personal power was never part of it. It's got to be some other level of control the Order has over you isn't it?"

"Believe whatever you want, it soon won't make a difference."

"I don't care if it's a spell, or forbidden knowledge or whatever!" said Mighty. "I'm going to get you back to back to the good, wonderful person I know you really are!"

Tails took a fighting stance. "They probably laid a similar trap for the others; I hope they aren't in too much trouble."

* * *

Marine gave the door a hard push while Silver used his helped with his telekinesis.

"It's no use!" said Silver as he stopped short of breath. "It won't budge!"

Marine slumped down. "We tried everything, why didn't this room collapse like the last one?"

Gold looked at the upward pointing triangle in the center of the room. "Think this is some sort of clue?"

Blaze nodded. "It is the alchemical symbol of fire, maybe…" She used her flames on the mark to no effect. "Should have known it wouldn't have been that easy."

Elise looked around. "This room, it almost feels like an arena."

"So, we'll probably be fighting someone associated with fire," said Silver.

Marine gasped. "Blaze that means you have to fight your…" Marine stopped when she saw Blaze putting a finger on her lips while pointing at Elise. "…that person." The racoon the turned to Elise. "We're sorry princess, we have another secret mission going on here. I promise we'll explain everything soon but until then please can you not tell the others about this?"

Elise nodded.

"Silver," said Blaze. "When the time comes focus on keeping Elise and Gold safe, you can do that better than the rest of us and…well you know this is going to be something I have to do."

"I understand," said Silver. "Guess for now we just have to wait."

* * *

In the idol chamber most of the Supreme Council looked at the images Specter had shown of all four arenas. "They'll be waiting for a while," said Regina. "I don't think our Heralds of Fire and Chaos are in any shape for a fight."

"Which is why I am have an alternate plan for them," said Specter. "Such a shame Mammoth is missing this, but then when nature calls you mortals have to answer."

"I mean no disrespect my lord, but I do have doubts as to whether our heralds can defeat the intruders," said Witchcart.

"They don't need to win; the herald's task is to simply slow the Freedom Fighters down until the proper time. After all one is crucial to the Grand Design."

"As your new vessel?" asked Naugus. "We have noticed that Charlemagne's health has been getting steadily worse over the past few days."

Specter closed his eyes. "Very observant, yes this body's task is nearly complete. I must prepare the fire chamber, but first let make the other arenas a bit more interesting."

Specter dispelled the image of Silver and the others and focused the remaining images on the heralds before waving his hand over the images again.

"Mind Palace."

* * *

A wave of light shot out from Lucian's head blinding Sonic and Knuckles for a second. When the light faded, they found themselves on the seafloor. Sonic in a panic tried flutily to swim while holding his breath until his lungs forced him to gasp out.

"Uh?" Sonic looked at Knuckles surprised that he seemed to be just fine. "Hey, we can breathe down here!"

"Must another one Specter's tricks," said the Echidna. "Submerged like this we're completely at Lucian's mercy!"

"No," Lucian said as his voice took icy tone. "You aren't because I'm not going to have any."

They turned to find the water and seafloor around Lucian was freezing yet he slowly walked forward as if the ice no more solid than air, freezing the water as he moved.

"Even with our children Amy will never be able to move on from the sorrow and pain you gave her, not until you're gone."

As Sonic and Knuckles looked on it seemed like there was some kind of shape behind the Tenrec, as shape that had pinchers open as if to take their heads.

* * *

Mighty and Tails opened their eyes, around them was what looked like a long-abandoned prison but clearly not like Devil's Gulag.

"Where are we?" asked Tails. "And where's Fiona for that matter?"

Mighty clenched his fist. "I think Fiona's still close because I know where we are, this is the third time I've been here. It was one of Robotnick's bases where I was held prisoner as a kid, the one where I first meet Ray and Fiona, the one me and Sonic failed to save them from, where Ray got frozen in time in a pocket dimension for five years, the one Fiona spent two years trying to escape…"

Tails flattened his ears. "Then this is where Fay was born. But why would Fiona bring us here, I can't imagine a time in her life where she didn't hate this place."

"Doesn't matter! All that matters now is that I can finally do what I failed to all those years ago!"

They heard sobbing coming from down a hallway.

"Ok, then let's go," said Tails. "But carefully, who knows what she has up her sleeve."

As they went off into the base a horned figure laughed in the shadows.

* * *

When the light faded Sally and Julie-Su were standing on top of a tower under a stormy sky.

"Changing the venue is not going help you beat us," said Julie. "This was over the moment you picked the side I was against."

"It didn't matter what side Geoffrey ultimately chose," said a figure that was materializing near the edge of the rampart. "It wouldn't change what he always was…"

Everyone turned to see a skunk with a flattop hair cut standing with his arms crossed.

Geoffrey gasped. "Father?"

Sally stood wide eyed. "How is this possible?"

To Sally and Julie there was a strange shadow near the elder skunk with leathery wings.

Ian smirked. "…a disappointment."

* * *

The supreme council looked on at what Specter did to the arenas before he turned to Naugus. "Come on now Naugus did you really think you could hide that you possessed three of Ixis' heralds with aspects of your own psyche?"

The mutant's flight, fight or freeze response was stuck firmly in freeze.

"But to be here as well you must have used phylacteries to do the job, I wonder where you got those?" He now turned to the crone. "Don't you Witchcart?"

Witchcart backed away slowly. "I-it was just to make sure that the heralds wouldn't turn against you my lord! I swear there was nothing else to it!"

Specter suddenly burst out laughing. "If any betrayal you planned was detrimental to the Grand Design I never would have recruited any of you in the first place! I am not angry, because in a very short time you will see that any plot to seize power from me is completely unnecessary. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get set up the challenge of the fire arena for our guests."

Once specter left the room Regina touched her pointer and forefinger to her forehead. "Mammoth, Specter's on to our sleeper agents so we have to go with the backup plan. He intends to possess one of the Freedom Fighters attacking the temple, where are you?"

* * *

Mammoth came out from behind a door after he saw Specter pass then put his fingers on his forehead. "Hiding your boyfriend for the backup plan. I already cast the invisibility spell on that cloak you gave him and we're on our way."

As Mammoth started moving Snively spoke up. "I just hope we can do this before Doctor Robotnick can get past those elementals and blow us to kingdom come. By the way what was with that detour you made to the nursery? I saw you cast some sort of spell on those rugrats telling the mothers it was a part of a checkup, but spell didn't do anything."

"The spell hasn't done anything yet, consider it the backup to the backup, do your job well and you won't have to worry about the infants." Mammoth then smirked to himself. _"Even if Specter does manage to carry out whatever he plans I'll be prepared."_

Amy and Hershey were both taking a much-needed nap since all three babies were deep into dream land themselves.

"_It may take a couple hundred years but if Specter plans to make generations of 'heroes' be sworn to him I'll just raise some of my own and deprive him of future pawns in a single stroke."_

No one was awake to see a small glow come off the children for a second before fading altogether.

"_I never had to lower myself to abducting defenseless children before but this will ensure Specter's defeat as well as ensure loyal allies once Sonic is out of the way so that I will rule, for the good of Mobius."_


End file.
